Don't tell me none of you iPod users thought of this before
British Military: iPods Pose Security Risk
Tue Jul 13, 2004 05:08 AM ET
By Bernhard Warner, European Internet Correspondent
LONDON (Reuters) - Music fans, beware: Britain's Ministry of Defense has become the latest organization to add the iPod to its list of high-tech security risks.
The pocket-sized digital music player, which can store thousands of songs, is one of a series of banned gadgets that the military will no longer allow into most sections of its headquarters in the UK and abroad.
Devices with large storage capabilities -- most notably those with a Universal Serial Bus (USB) plug used to connect to a computer -- have been treated with greater suspicion of late by government agencies and corporations alike.
The fear is that the gadgets can be used to siphon information from a computer, turning a seemingly innocuous device into a handy tool for data thieves.
"With USB devices, if you plug it straight into the computer you can bypass passwords and get right on the system," RAF Wing Commander Peter D'Ardenne told Reuters.
"That's why we had to plug that gap," he said, adding that the policy was put into effect when the MoD switched to the USB-friendly Microsoft XP operating system over the past year.
In a survey of 200 mid-sized and large UK companies conducted by British security software firm Reflex Magnetics, 82 percent of respondents said they regard so-called mobile media devices like the iPod as a security threat.
