Valer BOCAN’s Web Log

I have just arrived from the local photo shop (Profi Foto), where I wanted to print several of my vacation photos. I am still stunned at how difficult security measures are for some people to get right. Here is why:

Endowed with a USB flash drive, I went to the photo shop and ask the clerk to print my photos. She refused to take my order, saying that they were forbidden to insert foreign USB flash drives in their PCs, as they might contain viruses. She added that some computers were infected in other two of their locations, therefore the management took the decision that all photo shops in the chain would refuse USB flash drives. I asked how I could then bring the photos down to their shop and have them printed and the answer was: CD, DVD or SD card.

Now I wonder who services the computers at Profi Foto? The alleged professional who advised them to ban USB flash drives has certainly no knowledge of how malware spreads. How is a CD different to a USB drive from the storage point of view? How a SD card is then different? They are all mass storage devices, they have an underlying file system (be it FAT, FAT32 or NTFS) and they are all readable by a Windows machine, regardless of their manufacturing technology (albeit SD cards and USB drives have… flash memories). Most importantly, they can all carry malware, regardless of their form factor and storage capacity.

My story has a happy end, as the lady at Profi Foto dutifully listened to my plea and decided to trust me. She understood my points and even invited me to insert the flash drive into the USB slot myself. Well, if I were to run the shop, I would offer her the job of the genial service guy J

This entry was posted on Friday, August 31st, 2007 at 1:29 pm and is filed under Security. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.