Equipping mobile workers with laptops can be expensive, as well as risky.Machines need to be secured and patched regularly, and if they are lost, they can present a security risk.
Now, with the rise of high-capacity USB memory sticks, an alternative to traditional mobile business computing is emerging. By creating a virtual desktop on a USB thumb drive, companies can provide employees with the means to communicate safely with corporate systems and work securely from any PC, including a home machine or a device in an Internet café.
If the virtual environment is correctly configured, the user should be protected from any viruses or keyloggers that may be lurking on the host machine. And when they close the session and remove the USB stick, users should leave no footprint or clue that they had ever used the machine.
Provided the user can find a PC to use, the advantages are clear. The USB stick is cheaper, lighter to carry and can be centrally managed. If it is encrypted, it has zero value to a thief or to someone who finds it in the street. It can also be a useful business continuity measure if employees are suddenly prevented from using their office systems. The rapid distribution of USB devices would allow employees to work from home while maintaining policy control.
The concept of creating a virtual desktop on a USB stick is nothing new. A Web search for "PC on a USB stick" turns up several products, some of them open source, that allow users to piggyback on someone else's computer and run their own virtual desktop. The difference with the new products appearing on the market, however, is that they incorporate native encryption on the USB stick , are packaged with security in mind, and are designed to be managed centrally by the company issuing them to its employees.
