UK military: iPod is security risk ... LOL

[itsthepham]

Many UK companies regard storage devices like the iPOD as a threat.

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Music fans, beware: Britain's Ministry of Defence has become the latest organization to add the iPod to its list of high-tech security risks.

The pocket-sized digital music player, which can store thousands of songs, is one of a series of banned gadgets that the military will no longer allow into most sections of its headquarters in the UK and abroad.

Devices with large storage capabilities -- most notably those with a Universal Serial Bus (or USB) plug used to connect to a computer -- have been treated with greater suspicion of late by government agencies and corporations alike.

The fear is that the gadgets can be used to siphon information from a computer, turning a seemingly innocuous device into a handy tool for data thieves.

"With USB devices, if you plug it straight into the computer you can bypass passwords and get right on the system," RAF Wing Commander Peter D'Ardenne told Reuters.

"That's why we had to plug that gap," he said, adding that the policy was put into effect when the MoD switched to the USB-friendly Microsoft XP operating system over the past year.

In a survey of 200 mid-sized and large UK companies conducted by British security software firm Reflex Magnetics, 82 percent of respondents said they regard so-called mobile media devices like the iPod as a security threat.

As a result, a small but growing number of firms, particularly those in the financial and health care sectors, are devising policies to keep them out of their offices, said Andy Campbell, Managing Director of Reflex Magnetics.

"Oftentimes, a business has no idea if an employee is stealing data via removable media," Campbell said.

The findings reflect another report a week ago in which technology consultancy Gartner Inc. advised companies to consider banning the devices because they can also unwittingly introduce computer viruses to a corporate network.

"A portable media player with two gigabytes of capacity could easily store a customer database. And quickly," said Campbell.

[oscargarza88]

mmm... well i think illl have to agree.. i mean its still extremely hard to get on one of those computer i thnk but anyways i think this is a good thing, better safet han sorry...

[chipanggo]

when i first saw the title of this thread, i thought it was stupid and crazy. after reading the srticle, i have to say that i agree with them. in the wrong hands, even an innocent iPod can be dangerous.

[evoWalo]

they may as well ban floppies as well. Both 3.5 and 5.25.

[itsthepham]

and cd players and what not...pretty soon before you know it they will be banning everything. Cellphones, computers, ps2, xbox maybe even grandma.

[5vz-fe]

Originally Posted by evoWALO they may as well ban floppies as well. Both 3.5 and 5.25.

U can steal CAD drawings with 4gigs.......but u can't do much with 3.5 floppies.

[itsthepham]

Originally Posted by 5vz-fe Originally Posted by evoWALO they may as well ban floppies as well. Both 3.5 and 5.25. U can steal CAD drawings with 4gigs.......but u can't do much with 3.5

true...at many high security labs, they do ban cell phones, laptops, cdr's and anything else you could get data in or out with. they search you on the way in and on the way out.

[X-ale]

USB + plug & play arent equal to the admin password guys common... You can't copy just like that... you need at least 2 systems operating... The only way to hack a puter is with another one... and the proper tools... I don't see a Ipod running Unix with an optional keyboard in the near future or as in ever.

[itsthepham]

but you see the unexpected can always be used to do the unexpected. if that made any sense. haha

[No.1]

I have seen this article before.

It's fair to say that you can nick stuff with an iPod. It was in the UK new a year ago that somebody took their iPod into PC World, hooked it up to a Mac and took loads of software like Photoshop, iMovie etc... he got caught when he was asked what he was doing

We have done this at school on some of the Macs in the Tech department... i don't have a Mac, but my mate got PS, iMovie and a few other Mac Appz ... it was just a case of dragging the files into the ipod

[graywolf624]

true...at many high security labs, they do ban cell phones, laptops, cdr's and anything else you could get data in or out with. they search you on the way in and on the way out.

yeah I am not allowed to have a camera or even a camera cell phone
on company property. Wish it weren't so cause the cars I saw this week..
:shock:

I'm going to try to get pics of the rarest ones on a day off soon.

[RC45]

But they all miss the point.. in order to be able to just "plug and play" the iPod to steal the data, you need to already be logged on to the computer.

If you are working is such a sensitive area that even when you are logged on they watch if you steal data, then you would already know that ANY mobile media is banned already.

It's been like that for years. When I have been onsite to various defence contractors in the US, they even search your backage and have you leave any RW-CD's floppies ZIP USB drives etc at the door.

The only media I was allowed to take in was Read-Only media with the soiftware I would be using for support. Hell at times I would need a security cleared person to obtain a blank floppy AND a floppy drive so we could flash the BIOS on the Compaq servers we were installing...

This is a non-issue really.

If on the other hand they are worried about you just walkning up to a PC and stealing data - then they need to impliment better user security habits.. such as locking their workstations..