CNet is reporting that Microsoft’s upcoming Longhorn version of Windows will have tools designed to help businesses prevent the use of USB keys, iPods, or any other mass storage device that can be connected to work computers, all in the interest of protecting company data. Sounds like a cluster to me, but if iron-fisted sysadmins really feel like they need to lock down USB ports, an operating system-level tool is probably better than nothing. That being said, this is, at best, just a small part of an overall security solution.
It still sounds like a case of “OMG FLOPPY DRIVES?!?!” The data still leaves the company inside the minds of the employees, too. What is Microsoft doing to prevent data loss via the brain, huh? Clearly, there is a serious security hole there. My advice is free booze after 3:30.
