Banning portable storage device "unworkable" – META

By Stuart Finlayson

Outlawing the use of portable storage devices, such as iPods, in the workplace will be nigh on impossible to enforce and as such is unlikely to deter would-be data thieves.

That is the view of Kevin McIsaac, director of research, Asia Pacific, META Group.

Speaking in the wake of the announcement by Britain's Ministry of Defence that it was banning iPods from most sections of its bases in the U.K. and abroad, with their Australian counterparts reportedly having administered a similar pan on PDAs in certain areas of their premises, McIsaac said a similar ban in the corporate sphere would be unworkable.

"Certainly it's a concern, but I don't think banning devices is the right solution. For instance, are you going to put metal detector gateways at every entrance to your building and search people as they come in, because if you don't what's the point in having a ban?"

McIsaac argues that if corporates did issue such a ban, the variety of devices that have the capacity to store data is now so wide, how would they determine where to draw the line?

"Do you stop people bringing their laptops to your organisation? I don't know if bans are really the answer. You can buy keychain memory devices that have a large capacity too, and mobile phones with MP3 players built in, so how do you know who has what.

"A while ago the talk was of banning phones with built-in cameras in offices, but the problem is when these things become ubiquitous, banning them just won't work."

Nevertheless, it remains a problem that must be addressed. In a recent survey of large and mid-sized companies in the U.K., conducted by security software firm Reflex Magnetics, found that 82 percent of respondents regarded portable storage devices as a security threat. Finding the solution is another matter entirely.

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