Unencrypted removable storage poses greatest risk, says Origin Storage

That's a proportion that poses a severe risk to firms on the data leakage front, warns Andy Cordial, managing director of Origin Storage, the storage systems integration specialist. "If the results of this survey from Applied Research-West are extrapolated to the UK, the potential consequences are horrendous, especially with the massive new penalties for breaches of the Data Protection Act that start on April 6," says Cordial. "And when you break down the figures to show that 25% of saved USB stick data covers customer records, 17% financial information and 15% company business plans, you start to realise the real risks that companies are running with unencrypted mobile data," he adds. According to Cordial, while full disk encryption on laptops is an option that many manufacturers are exploring, this can be overkill for most situations – especially where the employee is using a portable device to take work home or out into the field. A far more effective solution, he argues, is to store the confidential information on a portable encrypted drive in the office, and then, when he or she needs to take the data out, the portable unit is easily transportable. "Devices such as our own Data Locker Pro, which protects information on an encrypted portable drive and is further defended using PIN security, are an ideal solution that meets all regulatory needs, adds Cordial.