SANDISK SURVEY SHOWS ORGANIZATIONS AT RISK FROM UNSECURED USB FLASH DRIVES; USAGE IS MORE THAN DOUBLE CORPORATE IT EXPECTATIONS
Data Files On
Personal Flash Drives In The Workplace Include Customer Records,
Financial Information, Business Plans And Source
Code
MILPITAS, CALIFORNIA, April 9, 2008 - SanDisk
Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) today announced the results of a new
study demonstrating the risks of unsecured USB flash drive usage
within enterprise organizations. A survey of both corporate end
users and corporate IT managers, commissioned by SanDisk, revealed
that IT executives are unaware of the extent to which unsecured
flash drives are brought into their organizations: 77 percent of
corporate end users surveyed have used personal flash drives for
work-related purposes. However, when asked to estimate what
percentage of the workforce uses personal flash drives, corporate
IT respondents said only 35 percent.
Users
revealed the data files most likely to be copied to a personal
flash drives include customer records (25 percent), financial
information (17 percent), business plans (15 percent), employee
records (13 percent), marketing plans (13 percent), intellectual
property (6 percent), and source code (6 percent).
Survey data indicated the portability of USB flash drives
represents a significant risk of data loss. Approximately one in
ten (12 percent) of corporate end users reported finding a flash
drive in a public place. Additionally, when asked to pick the three
most likely actions they would take if they found a flash drive in
a public place, 55 percent indicated they would view the data.
"Most CIOs are aware that data leaks can result in identity
theft, compromise of intellectual property, and loss of trade
secrets, as well as significant PR and financial damage to
organizations," said Gil Mildworth, Senior Director of Marketing
for SanDisk's Enterprise Division. "Our survey demonstrates that,
while there is some awareness of potential risks involved with
unsecured USB flash drives, corporate IT execs need more effective
policies, education, and technology solutions in order to mitigate
the risks. Only a top-down effort involving intelligent device
management, data monitoring, and centralized policy enforcement
will sufficiently reduce risks, while allowing organizations to
reap the productivity benefits of enhanced mobility."
Corporate Policies Largely Reactive; Knowledge
Varies
Survey results demonstrated that while some organizations have
taken steps to implement policies and educate users about proper
USB flash drive usage, their actions are primarily reactive.
According to IT respondents, more than two-thirds (67 percent) are
implementing or have implemented policies as a result of a data or
security breach in their organization. Additionally, only slightly
more than half (52 percent) of all of IT respondents have
implemented an endpoint security solution.
Awareness of corporate USB flash drive usage policies is varied
among respondents. Twenty-three percent of end users are either not
familiar at all with their organization's policies regarding flash
drive usage, or are aware that they exist but aren't familiar with
specific details.
At the same time, almost half (44 percent) of end users revealed
that, to their knowledge, their organization does not have a policy
that forbids copying corporate data on personal USB flash drives.
Another 16 percent were not aware of an existing policy, while 40
percent reported their company does have a policy forbidding
corporate data on personal flash drives.
IT manager responses were consistent with end users. Twenty-one
percent described their employees' understanding of policies as
only limited, while 33 percent were described as having moderate
understanding, 28 percent reported as having good understanding,
and 19 percent reported as having complete understanding. When
asked about training, IT respondents reported that employees are
trained either once per year on policies around USB flash drive
usage (33 percent); that they are trained more than once per year
(24 percent); that employees receive training only once when hired
(22 percent); that they are trained only on an as-needed basis (17
percent); and that they never train employees (3 percent).
More Education Required to Mitigate Risk, Potential
Costs
Some 41 percent of corporate IT managers report they are at
least somewhat uncomfortable with the level of USB flash drive
usage in their organization, revealing a significant level of
potential risk. Corporate end users validated their concerns by
reporting that one out of every five have little to no awareness
about the risks involved with transporting corporate data on flash
drives (21 percent), revealing a significant potential for data
loss.
About SanDisk's USB Flash Drive Study
SanDisk's report on USB flash drive usage in the enterprise was
a result of phone surveys, conducted in the U.S. in March 2008 by
Applied Research-West for SanDisk, of both corporate end users and
corporate IT managers. The goal of the surveys was to learn more
about flash drive usage in the enterprise, as well as the awareness
of potential risks involved with transporting corporate data on
personal flash drives.
SanDisk, a global leader in USB flash drives, is driving the
convergence of secure portable storage, identity management and
virtualization through its Enterprise Division to create a
comprehensive solution for mobile professionals in enterprises and
government agencies. Today, SanDisk's Enterprise Division offers
solutions for securely storing and managing enterprise data, within
and outside the enterprise environment. With the upcoming
introduction of virtualization and identity and management
capabilities, SanDisk expects to allow IT managers to boost
employee productivity by mobilizing the corporate computing
environment through flexible, secure solutions that also reduce
total cost of ownership. More information is available at
www.sandisk.com/enterprise.
About SanDisk
SanDisk Corporation, the inventor and world's largest supplier
of flash storage cards, is a global leader in flash memory - from
research, manufacturing and product design to consumer branding and
retail distribution. SanDisk's product portfolio includes flash
memory cards for mobile phones, digital cameras and camcorders;
digital audio/video players; USB flash drives for consumers and the
enterprise; embedded memory for mobile devices; and solid state
drives for computers. SanDisk (www.sandisk.com/corporate)
is a Silicon Valley-based S&P 500 company, with more than half
its sales outside the United States.
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements,
including applications, markets, customer acceptance and customers
that are based on our current expectations and involve numerous
risks and uncertainties that may cause these forward-looking
statements to be inaccurate. Risks that may cause these
forward-looking statements to be inaccurate include among others:
there may be a slower adoption rate for products in new markets
that we are targeting, our products may not perform as expected, no
security technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, and the
other risks detailed from time-to-time under the caption "Risk
Factors" and elsewhere in our Securities and Exchange Commission
filings and reports, including, but not limited to, Form 10-K and
our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. We do not intend to update the
information contained in this press release.
SanDisk's web site/home page address: http://www.sandisk.com
SanDisk's product and executive images can be downloaded from http://www.sandisk.com/corporate/mediakit
For more Information visit:
http://www.sandisk.com/Enterprise
SanDisk and the SanDisk logo are trademarks of SanDisk
Corporation, registered in the U.S. and other countries. Other
brand names mentioned herein are for identification purposes only
and may be trademarks of their respective holder(s).
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements,
including applications, markets, customer acceptance and customers
that are based on our current expectations and involve numerous
risks and uncertainties that may cause these forward-looking
statements to be inaccurate. Risks that may cause these
forward-looking statements to be inaccurate include among others:
there may be a slower adoption rate for products in new markets
that we are targeting, our products may not perform as expected, no
security technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, and the
other risks detailed from time-to-time under the caption "Risk
Factors" and elsewhere in our Securities and Exchange Commission
filings and reports, including, but not limited to, Form 10-K and
our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. We do not intend to update the
information contained in this press release.