Professor sees iPod as a potential tool for cybercrime

• Managers who believe worker productivity could fall as employees listen to iPods and other miniature digital music players face a greater threat from these devices: pilfered data.
• "It's a potential criminal tool," says Purdue University associate professor Marcus Rogers, a researcher at the Indiana school's Center for Education and Research in Information and Security.
• Rogers cautions that digital players can swiftly and effortlessly download immense amounts of information.
• Cyberthieves merely need a small cable to connect the devices to a PC tied to a corporate system.
• He characterizes iPods and similar gadgets as the 21st-century equivalent of a lock pick and getaway vehicle.
• The IT security researcher points out that some palm-sized players can store up to 60 Gbytes of information, which rivals the storage capabilities of laptop computers.
• Already, he says, digital music players have been used by child-pornography rings because they can store thousands of images, hidden from authorities who might search their PCs.
• Even a car-theft ring in Britain used iPods: Street operatives maintained data on inventory and orders on their digital music players, hiding the illicit information from police when they stopped suspects.
• The first step, he says, is for corporate IT staffs to be aware of the threat.
• He also suggests companies change policies that control the use of small-form-factor storage devices, including digital music players, and ensure that investigators don't overlook the devices when seeking evidence of cybermischief.
• A former Canadian police officer, Rogers says law enforcement has yet to catch up with how criminals use advanced technology.
• A typical investigator, Rogers suggests, wouldn't think of checking a suspect's pocket if no evidence is found at a workstation.
• In other words, don't forget to frisk the suspected wrongdoers.