Protect Your Network: How Safe is Your USB Drive?

Moving files from PC to PC using a USB key drive is very common. As USB keys are able to store more data, this method of transfer keeps getting even more convenient, but along with email and malicious web sites (intentional or not), it's a potential source of computer and file infection.

While most companies pay a lot of attention to securing their networks against email and web threats, many don't pay enough to how employees might be transferring files from one PC to another - especially if they work out of the main corporate office part of the time. Having an anti-malware tool built in to your USB key adds another level of protection to your network.

SanDisk has added McAfee malware protection to its Cruzer Enterprise USB drives. The software automatically scans the host PC for malware, and if it detects an infection it won't allow file transfers to the USB drive. It also scans any files once they are copied to the drive, so that malware can't be introduced from an outside PC back to your company network when it's plugged in to a network computer.

This new feature adds another layer of protection to the secure Cruzer Enterprise drive, which protects data using advanced hardware-based 256-bit AES encryption and a user password, making it difficult for unauthorized users to access the data if the drive is lost or stolen.

Laura Leites, Assistant Editor, Smallbiztechnology.com