There’s no denying the convenience of USB media. From hard drives and flash drives to a wide range of other devices, they offer a fast, simple way to transport, share and store data. However, from a business security perspective, their highly accessible and portable nature makes them a complete nightmare, with data leakage, theft, and loss all common occurrences.

Widespread remote working appears to have compounded these issues. According to new research, there’s been a 123% increase in the volume of data downloaded to USB media by employees since the onset of COVID-19, suggesting many have used such devices to take large volumes of data home with them.