A business manager's priority will always be to reduce cybersecurity risks. USB flash drives are a device that employees love but IT managers loathe. Flash drives are a major problem for IT managers. They don't work as they should. We will discuss this topic today because it is something that few people have thought of or discussed.

IT managers dislike flash drives because they allow malware to spread easily and quickly. Flash drives are designed to connect and disconnect rapidly, allowing files to be easily transferred from one computer to the next. This is an ideal opportunity for malware.

Wouldn't you like a USB drive that was not so open to these possibilities, but also easy to use at the same?

Here are five steps that a virus would take before determining if it can spread via USB.

1. Check for a USB drive. The virus will first look to see if the USB drive is connected and then infect the computer.
2. Check the filesystem of the USB Flash drive: The virus will check the filesystem of the USB drive to make sure that it is compatible and can write files onto the drive.
3. Check for available space on your USB flash drive. The virus will check to see if there is enough room on your USB flash drive to copy the virus or additional files.
4. Check the USB drive security settings. The virus will check to see if the USB drive is set to read-only mode or has other restrictions which would prevent it from copying itself to the drive.
5. Try to copy the virus to the USB drive: The virus will attempt to copy the virus to the USB drive using any exploits or vulnerabilities available to bypass security and gain access.

Bullet points 1-4 serve as qualifiers before the real task of a computer virus, which is step five, transferring files to a USB flash drive begins. Flash drives do not work properly if you don't follow step five.

A USB flash drive is not writable unless the user has approved it. The user will have to temporarily unlock the device for it becomes writable. This is the way a flash drive should work.

Controlling when the device is writable will also control the possibility of malware spreading. It is important to understand the subtle but crucial actions that a virus will take when it tries to spread.

1. Malware is designed so that it remains dormant till specific situations occur.
2. Malware will scan the USB drive's properties at the time of boot-up, or when it is enumerated by the operating system. The malware will determine the configuration of the device and if it can spread. If it cannot, the malware goes dormant and waits for the next enumeration.
3. Malware won't revisit a device once it has been enumerated because malware is designed not to attract attention.

Only the Lock License USB Flash Drive by Nexcopy is a flash drive that is read-only or write-protected as the default.

The write protection can be set on the device itself, or at the level of its hardware controller. This means that the settings will follow the drive wherever it connects to a computer, device, or system. Write protection is independent of the host. The device writes protection is very secure because machine code or microchip firmware is almost impossible to hack.

Nexcopy's most impressive feature is that the default setting of the device is "write protected". This means that whenever the power to the device is removed, either by a proper "ejection", or by simply pulling the drive out of its enclosure, the default setting of the drive will automatically change back to write protected.

The cybersecurity risks associated with a virus spreading are reduced on a Lock License flash drive compared to other flash drives. The concept does not eliminate the possibility of a virus spreading because human error is always possible. However, for IT managers this technology makes it easier to love USB flash drives once more.