The risks in the use of USB jeopardize the cybersecurity of companies
- S2 Grupo experts give five keys to increase security in their use and avoid damages that can put at risk, even, the continuity of business.
- In recent years, external memories has become one of the main tools used to infect computers with malware and carry out targeted attacks.
Valencia, October 17, 2018.- S2 Grupo, a Valencian company specializing in cybersecurity and cyberintelligence, has warned that the habitual use of USB and external disks to store information has increased the risk of organizations falling victim to cybercriminals due to problems that have arisen that affect the security of the information they contain and the computers to which they connect. Company experts have pointed out that in recent years external memories of all kinds have become one of the main tools used by them to infect with malware and carry out targeted attacks. "The use of external memories is so common that, in general, as we manipulate them we think that they can not cause any problem for the cybersecurity of our company or our computer and not only is this not the case, but a high number of cyber attacks are currently taking place through this channel", said José Rosell, managing-partner of S2 Grupo. "To cite just a few examples, using our USB on an unknown computer like one from a copy shop or a hotel or browsing through the contents of one we have just found, are the simplest ways that can put our cybersecurity at risk. In fact, one of the most common techniques used by cybercriminals is to leave some USB pendrives "lost". They know that practically 90% of those who find them will connect them to their computers", explained Miguel A. Juan, managing-partner of S2 Grupo. The team of experts from the cybersecurity company has identified five guidelines that can help increase security in the use of storage devices:
- Do not connect unknown USB memories to your computer.
- Do not use your devices on unknown or unsafe computers.
- Periodically review with an updated antivirus all your storage devices and especially if you have connected them to unknown computers (for example, copy shops, hotels, etc.)
- Keep your computer’s operating system, antivirus and applications updated.
- Encrypt your USB drives and storage disks. This measure will increase the security of the devices, especially if they are lost, because to access the information they contain, will require a password.
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