How a Simple $4 USB Port Blocker Can Be Your Best Cybersecurity Investment

    HUNTSVILLE, AL, July 10, 2019 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The millions of unguarded USB ports in the world's digital networks and information systems might look small individually, but together they are a yawning symbol of inattention. With an estimated $170 billion a year being spent on cybersecurity, only the tiniest fraction of that effort is going to simply closing and locking the front door. The humble USB port blocker – the top-of-the-line professional version costs only $4 – offers a simple and direct answer to this undefended portion of the cybersecurity perimeter.

The physical vulnerabilities of the data networks on which companies depend are profound and fundamental. USB ports and cable connectors are commonly left unsecured, inviting both contamination from well-meaning associates and sabotage from hostile or predatory interests. Whether the source is innocent or pernicious, the effect can be equally devastating, a disruption of the systems on which a business enterprise depends for its very existence and function.

Hostile and Innocent – Equally Dangerous

A looming threat to nuclear non-proliferation was dealt a decade-long setback by simply introducing a virus to the data system via a USB port. Was the now-famous Stuxnet worm, which came to light nearly 10 years ago, deployed from a skunk-works of cyber geniuses hacking the Web from a far-off cyber-espionage facility? No, Stuxnet penetrated Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment plant by simply plugging a flash drive containing the virus into an unsecured USB port. The USB port blocker is designed to prevent this kind of preposterous breach of security and effectively eliminate unauthorized access to the wide-open USB ports that are everywhere in the workplace.

Certainly, what happened at Natanz was not an innocent incursion, but it doesn't take a hostile force to disrupt the data networks and information systems that your enterprise depends on. Any well-meaning associate with a mobile device – which is to say any associate at all – can be the unwitting source of a virus, a Trojan horse, or even ransomware.

Putting the USB Port Blocker to Work

From The Connectivity Center, you'll find the professional USB port blocker for $4 and the personal USB port blocker for $1.80. Certainly, cost is not a serious obstacle, and that is yet another reason that this unguarded sector of the cybersecurity perimeter is so surprising. The inexpensive, unassuming looking, yet elegantly engineered USB port blocker is so easy to acquire, deploy, and factor into your operation.

Color-coded USB port blockers offer the opportunity to visually identify who is qualified to install and remove them from a given operation. For unlocking them, two kinds of keys are available, the Enterprise and Professional series of the Smart Keeper USB Port Lock Key. Key patterns are strictly controlled, yet duplicate keys can be ordered to suit an organization's own security authorization structure.

The Professional Series key offers an ergonomic, retractable housing with anti-static rubber grip, LED light for low visibility work areas, and dual-retractors – main and peripheral – for access to any angle of installation. The Professional Series provides effective control to reach port locks in confined spaces.

About The Connectivity Center

The Connectivity Center is a supplier of some of the leading physical cyber security and AV connection technologies. The company is especially known for its Smart Keeper series – a portfolio of physical data security products. The Connectivity Center brand prides itself in quality, value, variety, and versatility. We want to be a one stop shop for most of your connectivity needs and we love to serve our partners in this evolving industry.

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