Fraud Expert Warns of Security Threat Posed by iPod Generation

The iPod generation of music lovers is the source of a serious and growing threat to corporate security according to fraud specialist, Martin Cunningham.

Cunningham, a fraud and criminal solicitor and Serious Fraud Supervisor for the Legal Services Commission, believes that companies are laying themselves open to serious breeches of security by failing to introduce measures to deal with the influx of new portable storage devices.

iPods, MP3 players, PDAs and even digital cameras have become the tools of a new and audacious breed of corporate criminal. Emerging reports claim that many are profiteering from trusting employers by stealing unprotected company information, often to sell on to other fraudulent individuals and spurious organisations, warned Cunningham.

Extracting banking details, stealing customersí identities, bootlegging company products and downloading copyright information are just some of the ways that these fraudsters can jeopardise company security.

Sensitive information about the health of a company, including profits and redundancies, is particularly valuable to corporate thieves. In the wrong hands, this sort of information can send a companyís share price into freefall.

With sales forecast to reach 10 million in the next 12 months, the digital music player is expected to become as ubiquitous as the mobile phone. Companies need to tighten up security now to ensure that they donít become a victim of the so-called iPod generation.

The vast majority of businesses only use a fraction of the data they store and too many are careless in the way they manage it. They need to introduce a strict regime of classifying, segregating and storing sensitive data securely, advised Cunningham.

Security gaps in desktops and servers can be plugged with intrusion protection software which uses encryption codes to protect valuable files and computers. Employers should consider banning or at least restricting the use of digital storage media from sensitive areas of the office.

One of your music loving, digital savvy employees might just prove to be a corporate mole in your midst, he added.

People can contact Martin on 0161 456 5857.