Healthcare Firm Secures USB

Earlier this week, the Veterans' Administration saw the impact of the theft of a single laptop. But while the VA's problem has got many enterprises rethinking their laptop security strategies, one healthcare company is also taking steps to seal another emerging source of data leaks: USB devices.

Martin, Fletcher, a fast-growing healthcare staffing firm based in Irving, Texas, is concerned about portable devices such as USB memory sticks, external hard drives, PDAs, and DVD burner drives, which are becoming very popular in the healthcare industry.The company, which provides permanent placement services for physicians and nurses in 49 U.S. states, supports more than 100 desktop devices that allow employees access to sensitive databases related to doctors, nurses, and healthcare facilities.

As it grows, Martin, Fletcher is seeing more and more use of USB devices such as PDAs, flash drives, iPods, and digital cameras.With these devices, users could potentially download sensitive information, inadvertently introduce a virus into the corporate network, or download their own software to a PC, IT executives observed.

"We made a decision to try to block some of that access," to keep data from getting into the wrong hands, says Fabi Gower, vice president of information systems at Martin, Fletcher. The company had not yet experienced any USB-related breaches, she says, but managers perceived the risk to be serious, especially in light of highly publicized data losses suffered by other companies at the time.

Read the full story at Dark ReadingBob Violino, contributing writer, Dark Reading