News in the Channel - Issue #5

STORAGE

Portable storage devices ride the hybrid wave With the world transitioning to hybrid work arrangements, portable storage devices such as USB flash drives have become increasingly popular for businesses and individuals alike.

Although the market is predicted to grow from $7,126.1 Million in 2021 to $10,754.4 Million by 2028, there are several factors that could impact on this growth projection. The Market Opportunity With the rise of remote working, as more employees work from home or in different locations, there is a need for portable storage solutions that enable them to carry their data around with them. USB flash drives are lightweight, compact, easy to use, and have high-speed data transfer capabilities, making them ideal for this purpose and the biggest factor driving the growth. But as Jason Kent, from Open Seas explains, “Portable storage solutions are useful for organisations that need access to their files offline, in remote areas for example, or when they are dealing with heavy files, such as HD videos. However, as businesses are moving to the cloud – whether it is via Google Workspace, Microsoft’s OneDrive, SharePoint or another solution – and can upload/download your files via superfast broadband, we are experiencing less demand for physical portable solutions.” The Security Risks As with any portable device, there are concerns about security. Kevin Reed, Acronis CISO, warns that portable storage solutions come with inherent risks. They are meant to transfer files between systems, and one common scenario is to transfer files from systems of different security levels. For example, a security-sensitive organization may have a set of computers or full networks physically disconnected from the Internet or lower security networks. Sometimes they are known as ‘air-gapped’. Kevin continues, “Examples of such networks and systems could be SCADA systems in industries like oil and gas, or life critical systems in aviation, medical or energy

sectors. Yet, such systems need to exchange files with the rest of the world, install updates and so on. Various portable storage solutions, from thumb drives to larger disk arrays are used for it.” The risks come not only from the file exchange, when files transferred from a less secure systems can contain malware in some form. Worse, if the external system is compromised, it can plant an exploit onto the USB key that will use the vulnerability on target systems to access it and run code. Whereas files can be scanned for malware on the target system before they will be accessed, such an exploit could be executed before even any file is access. This is not unheard of – one of the famous examples being the CPLINK vulnerability that was exploited by Stuxnet malware. The Solution To address these concerns, some USB flash drives come with built-in encryption, password protection, and biometric authentication features to protect data. Users can also take steps to secure their USB flash drives by avoiding unsecured networks and using anti- virus software to scan for any threats. The Future When it comes to customer demands, some are looking for portable storage solutions with greater memory, while others may prefer specific types of USB flash drives that cater to their specific needs. For instance, USB 3.0 flash drives that provide a rate of data transfer of 4.8 GB per second are expected to boost the USB Flash Drive Market growth in coming years. Looking to the future, the growth of the USB flash drive market is expected to continue, however, while security concerns remain, and other cloud-based storage options become more accessible, it needs to be seen how much further these portable storage solutions will continue to grow in the longer term.

Jason Kent director Open Seas (UK) Ltd

openseas.co.uk

Kevin Reed CISO Acronis

acronis.com