I was in a hotel in Maine recently and while there decided to turn off my firewall and scan for wireless networks just to see what would happen. Turns out, the strongest signal in the hotel was from a viral peer-to-peer network somewhere on or near the property.  These are the “bad guys.”  Wow!  I thought at least in a place like northern Maine, I could be less concerned about computer security.  Clearly, I was wrong.  

This experience reinforced for me the importance of security and the need to follow through on our ethical obligations as they relate to virtual client data no matter where any of us travel.  With this in mind, I would like to discuss one concern in the context of using a flash drive. 

Flash drives are convenient due to their physical size and ease of use.  However, as I so often say, “Just because one can do something, doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.”  Here is my point.  Flash drives are not that expensive and they simply don’t get treated in the same way as a high quality leather brief case stuffed full with client file materials.  Often, these drives are simply slipped into a pocket or bag.  Due to their small size, they are easy to lose.

What would most people do if they found one lying on the ground?  They may very well take a look to see what’s on the drive and then start using it as their own.  In the absence of a strong password and/or good encryption, any client confidences on that drive are no longer confidential.  Heaven forbid someone posts to YouTube or a MySpace page the story of what they found on that drive.  

Flash drives are wonderful tools and I have several.  I also have all of my data encrypted and use a strong password in order to prevent unauthorized access if I ever lose one or it gets stolen.  If your data is not similarly protected on the likes of your own flash drive, laptop, or IPod I am going to gently suggest that your efforts to maintain client confidences aren’t what they should be and it’s time to notch your security up a level or two.

Staying with my example, it couldn’t be easier to maintain client confidences on a flash drive and one great product that can help with this is IronKey.  IronKey flash drives come with hardware-based encryption, which is more secure than software-based, and the drive self-destructs if ever subjected to a brute force password attack.  After ten tries, this thing is toast.  Now that got my attention.

There is more to these drives than I can set forth here; but the product is worth a look.  If you have an interest in learning more about the product line, information can be found at www.ironkey.com.  Safe travels to all of you who go on the road and please do all that you can to maintain your client confidences while traveling.  It’s a jungle out there.