Have you been a victim of Pod Slurping?
No, that’s not a scene from a science fiction movie – Pod Slurping is when people use iPods or other MP3 players as portable hard drives to steal informaton from computer systems.
The threat is real, but as Techdirt points out, it is hardly new. This has been possible for as long as there has been portable memory – dating back to the 5 inch floppy disk. The only difference is that portable memory has become much smaller, holds much more, and may have other functions (mp3, pda, smartphone).
Some suggest iPods should be banned from offices for this reason. Most technology can be used for both good and evil – If we banned new technology just because it has the potential to be used for evil, we would still be in the stone age.
You wrote an interesting article on my original release of slurp.exe
(a pod slurping proof of concept).
I’ve since released a new tool (slurp audit) to help organizations
assess their level of risk. You may check it out at:
http://sharp-ideas.net/downloads.php
or see the press release here:
http://sharp-ideas.net/ideas/?p=16
Cheers,
Abe Usher, CISSP
http://www.sharp-ideas.net
Comment by Abe Usher — January 25, 2006 @ 12:36 am