Network World today (7/12) published "Mobile users face knotty security issues." 

There are some good points and information contained within.  Many are information security basics that good information security professionals already know, that information security must be implemented in depth and in layers, as transparent to the end-user as possible, to be effective.  It's good to reiterate these messages to the IT folks who tend to read these publications. 

Too many times it seems folks outside the information security and privacy area think that security is addressed through just one action or tool...we need to raise the awareness of IT and business leaders so they understand that information security is achieved through a combination of many processes, plans, tools and activities...not just through a firewall or just by using anti-virus software.

"...secure mobile computing is a complex business."

Indeed!!  So many incidents occur...daily...involving mobile computing and storage devices.  Most are not reported to the public.  Most involve huge amounts of data.  Putting mobile computing devices and storage in the hands of your end-users is kinda like leaving your 6-month-old baby under the total care and oversight of your 7-year-old neighbor...some will be pretty responsible, but most will soon forget about the security and safety of that precious and valuable bundle you've entrusted to them; their attention spans are short and their awareness of the security issues is likely very low.

I personally love USB micro storage devices; they are so much handier to use than CDs.  Plus, some of the devices are very cool, too...I love the Swissbit USB tool.  However, the small small size and large storage capacities (I'm looking at some really small 2GB storage units right now) of these many different USB devices scare me.  How many workers are putting confidential company data onto these devices?  How many organizations know their workers are doing this?  How many of these are lost?  How many actually encrypt the data stored on these devices?  How many visitors to your facilities use these to take information out with no one the wiser?

USB storage is just one of the many complex issues to tackle with mobile computing.  There are so many more.

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