IBM bans company-wide use of portable storage

IBM reportedly forbids its staff worldwide from using portable storage such as SD cards, USB sticks and external HDDs and SSDs. According to the group, the risk of financial and reputation damage is too great with continued use.

The ban was reportedly communicated to staff by Shamla Naidoo, IBM’s chief information security officer, writes The Register. “The company is extending the ban on data transfers to all removable, portable storage devices, such as USB, SD cards and flash drives,” the statement said.

The policy will take effect globally in the coming weeks and aim to minimize the risk of financial and reputational damage from misplaced, lost or misused portable storage. The advice to staff is to share and synchronize files online.

Naidoo acknowledges that this can lead to problems in certain cases and The Register claims that the company is considering allowing for exceptions. Some IBM units already banned the use of portable storage.