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This is how something as innocuous as a thumb drive can become a major security issue.
Recently, it has come to light that a soon-to-be retiring regulator at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) had downloaded work files onto a thumb drive, but now, seems to have misplaced it.
The files were actually downloaded to the drive in November of 2015, but the loss was only discovered this year, in September, as part of an audit which reviewed file access and downloads to removable media.
The OCC did not go into detail about what kinds of information the drives contained, saying only that it was “controlled unclassified information, including privacy information,” and that the data spanned more than 10,000 records. The investigation is ongoing, and so far, there’s no word on whether the drive in question has been found.
The bright spot, however, is that none of the data has appeared for sale on the Dark Web, so it could be the case that the drive has simply been misplaced. The agency also said that they have already updated their data security policies so that an incident like this cannot happen again.
Nonetheless, this underscores how fragile digital security is. When all it takes to send a government agency into crisis is a moment of carelessness with a simple thumb drive, it puts the risks that all enterprises face in today’s business climate.
What is the current state of your company’s digital security? Would the sudden disappearance of a thumb drive containing sensitive company data put you in a tailspin? Would you even know the data had been taken?
If you’re not sure what the answers to these questions are, and want more peace of mind, we can help. Give us a call today and one of our talented team members would be happy to assist you!