data loss

Windows Information Protection (WIP)

Microsoft Windows Information protection - “helps to protect against this potential data leakage without otherwise interfering with the employee experience. “

More of the time data leakage will be situations where hackers , ex or existing empoloyees or third parties try and extract company owned data for their benefit or resales value. Some examples of this could be a recruiter extracting all his customers to take to a new company, a employee extracting his worked on projects so he has a base to continue them on as a contractor.

Other cases could be totally by accident , where an employee copies a file to an Unencrypted USB stick and loses it , or emails it home to a personal email so they can work on it later.

Devices enrolled in windows InTune can have policies set to protect specific files and only allowed them to be opened in applications that support information protection , such as the Office suit or Adobe Products. You can then set granular permissions on what is allowed to be done with these files such as only print.

You can also make sure that documents are only opened on Enrolled devices to InTune which makes sure documents never leave the Company on purpose or by accident.

Price

If you have enrolled a device in Intune you should already have this as a license for free. It comes with the E3 mobility Security E3 License more price variables can be found here

Is USB a Risk or a Benefit now to Small Business'?

With the recent introduction of a 5$ device reported by the BBC http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-38012699 socalled "Poison Tap" which can be used to steal all Web Browser Passwords with Cookies in the matter of seconds, is the invention of USB a benefit or hindrance on business' now?

The risk of Data loss for business with removable media has always been a risk, since CD Copying drives were cheap enough to install on all desktops. This could be restricted with not installing a CD copying app back in the day and also copying company data at 600mb at a time using a 32x Speed writer blaring across the office wasn't the easiest way to go unnoticed!

Plug and play was a great new way for devices to plug in and go with windows without the need for manual driver installation and setting up devices. This technology meant users could even install Printers themselves! Now with the invention and scaling of flash storage, Finger sized USB's sticks getting above 256GB copied over USB3 at 300MB/s the risk is more apparent of data loss using this great technology.

Software is available for business' to start logging and monitoring items being copied over USB now which can be apparently often with people leaving firms decide to copy confidential company property and previous work owned by the company. This information is invaluable for any company seeking legal action against a company or individual.

Some companies have choosen an all out policy to save money which restricts USB ports on the computer entirely, much to the dismay of the workforce who want to keep their smart phones charged using the front USB ports! 

With the new threat now of USB sticks emulating Network adapters stealing password via network traffic, new systems will have to be put in place now to require user intervention when installing USB Devices!