What is device control?

What is device control? Device control definition:

Device control enhances your organization’s existing endpoint security by giving your team the full control to define, restrict, or block data transfer from external storage media, such as USB (Universal Serial Bus) devices, USB media controllers, USB peripheral ports, CD/DVDs, and Bluetooth storage devices. Through implementing a set of access rules, businesses can set parameters to give or restrict connection from specific devices, users, or groups at scheduled times. Device access rules can even apply limitations on reading and editing storage media files.

By filtering, monitoring, and blocking the transfer of content-based data on removable storage media, your business can reduce the risk of unauthorized data transfers, data loss, and malware attacks. Most importantly, device control software is configurable to your organization’s needs. 

The importance of device control and enterprise USB management

Adopting a comprehensive device control solution protects your business’s endpoints from data theft and disruption to daily operations by gatekeeping external device connections and controlling the lock down of USB ports within your network. Although, USB and removable storage devices are purposeful tools in the office that help staff share content between colleagues and navigate their tasks, they can expose your systems to cybercriminals targeting valuable sensitive data, customer information, and intellectual property. Incidents of removable storage misconduct are largely unintentional. Professionals unknowingly plug in USB drives, mobile phones, and media devices they use in their personal lives inadvertently connecting them to company workstations. Organizations are often unaware of a data breach until they face repercussions. Measures to improve your business’s data protection strategy should include USB monitoring and USB data security software as essential components of data loss prevention (DLP).

Benefits of device control solutions

5 key factors device control benefits your organization:

• Improves attack surface visibility and data exchange through device-to-endpoint connections.
• Protects against intercepting third parties by enforcing encrypted data transfers.
• Meets industry standards for data protection and compliance.
• Restricts the types of data that can be transferred as well as limits the amount of data that is transferable.
• Ensures storage devices are used for legitimate company purposes.

Device control and endpoint security

In addition to endpoint protection, EDR, and other cloud-based security products, device control works alongside your existing solutions to deliver comprehensive endpoint security and augment networkwide data protection. Businesses can centralize user access management and customize access permission for removable device media connections. By blocking or applying restriction exceptions to their access rules, companies can reduce workflow interruption. Device control offers added protection against data loss to support holistic and mature security posture. Read more on Attackers are Mailing USB Sticks to Drop Ransomware.

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