Because software protection can be fooled

Feb 8, 2008 14:05 GMT  ·  By

USB drives are all over the place nowadays, and there are extremely few devices that cannot be "convinced" to work using a USB port. USB mice, keyboards, MP3 players and USB flash storage devices are just some of the products we encounter on a daily basis.

The USB port is not only a nifty solution for connecting all your gadgets you might want, but it is also a backdoor that can give you extra trouble, especially if you are a network administrator in a public-access computer room or if you need to take care of data security inside a corporation.

Imagine the following scenario: a malicious user gets a virus on a USB flash drive and manages to copy it on one of the workstations in the computer network. The infection spreads and the network quickly collapses. Such a scenario will take a second to trigger and some serious amount of time to fix. The PC Guardian is here to prevent such things from happening.

While software solutions that disable the USB ports or prevent the user from connecting a flash drive can be worked around, an effective USB locker will simply deny physical access to the above-mentioned ports. Unless you walk with a chainsaw or a file into your pockets, chances that you succeed in working around this type of blocker are quite insignificant.

The kit comes in three pieces and sells for about $25, but it manages to lock down the computer's USB ports using a push-button lock and a plate combination. The peripherals that need to get connected via an USB port can be firmly fastened to prevent them from being removed in order to leave a free port. This can be achieved using a cable guard lock, that can secure the cable and block access to the port itself at the same time.

Moreover, the system provides easy, instant and maintenance-free data protection. While USB-blocking software need license renewals, installs and configuring, the USB Port Security System works at a push of a button.