Security trumps convenience, and IBM is taking that to the next level with its employees. The company has decided that removable storage devices are just too risky to use, so they’ve been banned.

As The Register(Opens in a new window) reports, IBM’s global chief information security officer, Shamla Naidoo, recently informed all employees that data transfers to removable portable storage devices is now prohibited. That includes USB sticks, SD cards, and any form of portable hard drive.

Instead of portable storage, IBM wants everyone using the cloud and more specifically, IBM’s own File Sync and Share service, which it also offers to enterprise customers. That may work for IBM employees on campus, but what about those out in the field carrying out repairs and upgrades? Rather than having a patch on a USB stick, secure cloud access will need to be established instead.

IBM’s lock down on portable storage is worldwide and will be implemented within the next few weeks. As for the reason why the company is taking such drastic action, Naidoo explains, “the possible financial and reputational damage from misplaced, lost or misused removable portable storage devices must be minimised.”

It’s hard to argue against that. USB sticks and SD cards are very easy to forget or lose, and whoever finds them will usually check what they contain. Removing them from the equation completely solves that problem, but the cloud access replacing it needs to be rock solid. It looks likely USB storage sticks will quickly be replaced with USB 4G LTE sticks.