McAfee provides anti-virus to secure USB devices

INSECURITY SOFTWARE VENDOR McAfee has announced that its anti-virus software will be used on most USB devices thanks to partner programmes with the major orignal equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

The company claimed that it has close ties with the USB OEMs that other anti-virus software companies cannot rival.

The partner programme includes working with some of the top names in USB manufacturing, including Kingston Digital, MXI, Rocky Mountain RAM, Sandisk, Syprus, Hagiwara and Yoggie Security Systems.

McAfee believes it has the market sown up because it can deliver both consumer and enterprise products, offering software for the expanding use of secured USB devices across the board. High capacity USB based storage is popular. Unfortunately, like all storage devices, it's also susceptible to harbouring malware.

However, McAfee reckons that its embedded automatic anti-malware scan stops the transfer of malware infected files if it detects anything suspect.

"Whether it's intellectual property, confidential information, or trade secrets, corporations, governments and defence entities all need to take appropriate step to properly secure their data," said McAfee executive David Scholtz.

"The combination of McAfee anti-virus technology with our OEM partner offering provides the comprehensive layers of protection required to protect data from loss or leakage, and prevent the spread of malware," he added.

There's no word from McAfee about how it proposes to stop corporations, governments and defence entities from leaving their secure USB devices on trains, in taxis and parked cars, or in pubs. µ