West Lothian and email

[David Hansen]

On 13 Jan 2009 at 20:55, signup@bealoid.co.uk wrote:

> A local trust has insisted that any USB Sticks (flash drives, whatever  
> you call them) have to be Sandisk Cruzer Enterprise encrypted disks.   

I think all discs, fixed or removable, should be encrypted. So, I'm 
pleased to hear of an organisation which has the same approach. I make 
no comment on the precise form of encryption.

> I'm not sure if they're using the "too many tries and the data is  
> wiped" option, but most passwords I've seen people use are less than 9  
> characters, with one capital and one number.  Is this better than  
> nothing?  or is it creating a false sense of security?

It is a way of defeating casual attackers, at least for the moment. In 
a while they may have to look at passphrases, though it is easy to 
defeat the aim of securing things by making these so impractical that 
people write it on a piece of paper or whatever.

Encryption on its own is not a panacea, but it is a necessary step.



-- 
  David Hansen, Edinburgh 
 I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents 
me   
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54