Data hung out to dry as 9,000 USBs left in laundrettes

A survey released today by data security firm Credant Technologies finds that in the last year, 9,000 USB sticks have been left in people’s pockets as they take their clothes to be washed at the local dry cleaners. The survey was carried out across the UK, to gauge the frequency and ease with which mobile devices, such as USB and memory sticks, are lost or forgotten in strange places. A similar survey was conducted by Credant last September amongst taxi drivers in London, which showed that 6,193 handheld devices, including laptops, iPods and memory sticks were left in taxis every six months. Michael Callahan, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Credant , says: “We conducted this survey to show people how easy it is to lose data, even in their local laundrette and that none of us are infallible. “If the data is sensitive or valuable then people should protect this information with encryption so no-one can access the data at any point - as it could easily end up in the wrong hands.”