iPods a Security Risk, says Gartner

[Mac Reporter]

iPods pose security risk for enterprises, Gartner says
By Laura Rohde, IDG News Service

The iPod may be popular, but also poses such a major security risk for businesses, that enterprises should seriously consider banning the iPod and other portable storage devices, according to a study by research firm Gartner Inc.

The devices, using a Universal Serial Bus (USB) or FireWire (IEEE 1394), present risks to businesses on several fronts: from introducing malicious code into a corporate network, to being used to steal corporate data, the Stamford, Conn.-based research company said in its report "How to Tackle the Threat From Portable Storage Devices," published Friday.

Full story here.

[Edited on 7-7-2004 by Mac Reporter]

[bogs]

Is this anything new? That can already be done with the use of floppy/CD drives, Thumb Drives and other various flash memory,

Thanks Gartner for pointing out the obvious. :dry:

[Henjie]

I wonder how much they spent for this "research", hehe.


~Henjie

[GilGrissom]

yeah wasn't there a case where someone stole apple software from a mac on display using an ipod??

[Kenneth]

yeah wasn't there a case where someone stole apple software from a mac on display using an ipod??

Yes there was. But the same person could have easily used a different Mp3 player or external HD.

"How to Tackle the Threat From Portable Storage Devices".... This kinda... DUH! HELLO! They should rename it "Idiot's Guide to Tackling the Threat From Portable Storage Devices" Why not just disable or takeout the USB and Firewire ports and any connections if you're really paranoid. If someone really wants to infiltrate your company, chances are it'll happen from the inside. And it'll happen regardless of how high your security measures are.

[Edited on 7-7-2004 by Yagballs]

[jasondv]

Originally posted by Henjie
I wonder how much they spent for this "research", hehe.

Even more important, how much do they charge clients who may want to see the full report?

Talk about "scaring" up business.

[Edited on 7-7-2004 by jasondv]

[piedad]

The reports cost anywhere from $800 to $10k even more.

-------------
Garter reports digital cameras pose a huge huge security risk.

With the boom in sales of digital cameras, Garter has sent out an alert to its wealthy clients that all companies are in danger of a huge security problem by letting people use them at work for whatever reasons. A malicious code could be put inside the Flash memory devices that these cameras use, and since they are treated like a removable storage device that can be accessed via any file reading program such as the Windows Explorer, infection once it is connected to the pc is highly probable.

Full report available for $789 .... send U2U if interested :P