Controlling Removable Storage Access

 Executive Summary:

Removable storage devices present Windows security concerns, including malware infection, illicit software installation, and data theft. Microsoft Windows Vista integrates Group Policy–based support for restricting use of removable storage devices. You can implement similar functionality on downlevel systems such as Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000.

Removable storage devices have always presented security concerns for Windows administrators. Local high-speed storage devices increase the risk of malware infection, illicit software installation, and data theft—yet Windows OSs traditionally didn’t provide a way to control these devices. With the release of Windows Vista, Microsoft has finally integrated Group Policy–based support for restricting access to removable storage devices. In this article I briefly discuss using this new feature on Vista; then, I explain how to implement similar functionality on downlevel systems such as Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000. . . .