I would be secure if it weren't for those pesky laptops

Two-thirds of 300 managers surveyed said a laptop is the most difficult device to manage and secure. But only a third said that USB flash drives were a security problem despite a recent SC report suggesting data loss on the devices is a major problem.

"Businesses are clearly failing to wake up to the threat of unauthorised personal mobile devices – which are coming in and out of corporate networks everyday without the IT manager's knowledge," said Daniel Power, regional manager at Landesk which commissioned the survey.

According to the survey only 19 percent of IT managers would consider banning usage of certain devices, such as iPods, recordable DVDs and CDs, to mitigate against potential data loss. In fact, nearly a quarter of respondents claimed they have no way of monitoring use of storage devices in the workplace.

"These devices, such as USB flash drives, are often very small, but they have staggering storage capacities, and it would only take seconds to download an entire customer database," said Power.

www.landesk.com