Do you know that 60% of data breaches are insider threats? Also, the average cost of each of these threats is a whopping $11.5 million. These numbers clearly show the widespread prevalence of these thefts and the huge impact it has on an organization. More importantly, these high numbers emanate from the fact that these threats are hard to identify and mitigate.

Typically, insider threats are done by employees who have legitimate access to sensitive information. They tend to steal this information and sell it to others for money or use it to settle a grudge against the organization itself. Regardless of the reason, an organization must take the necessary steps to protect its assets from insider attacks.

One such strategy is USB port locking.

What is USB Port Locking?

Many times, employees prefer to download important documents to a USB flash drive because it’s easy to carry. Also, it’s hard for an organization to know that some files have been copied to a flash drive. Due to these reasons, an employee can get away with this stealth act.

The good news for organizations is that there is USB port locking software that prevents anyone from copying files to a USB drive. This acts as a deterrent for employees with privileged access to steal sensitive information.

Another advantage of this software is that it prevents employees from infecting computers with malware, ransomware, or other malicious software through a USB flash drive.

Due to these security advantages, organizations increasingly prefer to use USB port locking software to prevent any form of an insider attack.

The Best USB Port Locking Tools

Below are some of the best USB port locking tools available today:

1. ManageEngine Device Control This is a comprehensive device control and file access management solution that prevents anyone from moving sensitive files to any peripheral devices.
2. SysTools USB Blocker This tool quickly blocks or unblocks USB devices on multiple computers at the same time. It comes with many advanced features and works well on Windows 7,8,8.1, and 10.
3. EndPoint Protector Device Control An all-encompassing platform that monitors and locks down your USB and peripheral ports. Also, it provides complete control and visibility into the usage of these ports.
4. GiliSoft USB Lock This data leak prevention tool locks your USB ports and prevents anyone from copying data to USB drives, CDs, and other portable devices. It works only on Windows devices.
5. USB Disk Manager A small Windows utility that prevents systems from reading or writing to a USB drive.

So, how do you know if any of the above tools are appropriate for your business needs?

Well, it all starts with research where you understand each tool’s detailed features, so you can determine the best fit. To ease your efforts, we have done the hard work, so sit back and read through the detailed feature list of each tool.

1. ManageEngine Device Control

ManageEngine’s Device Control is advanced software that prevents anyone from copying data to peripheral devices. It’s a simple and highly effective tool to prevent any insider attack or data loss.

Features

Let’s now look at the features of ManageEngine Device Control.

• Comprehensive Control This tool provides comprehensive control over all ports and removable devices. It follows a zero-trust security model, so every time a user logs into a device or uses its USB ports, this information is logged in the audit section. Admins are also alerted during such attempts, and all these can deter employees from copying sensitive information to peripheral devices. You can also use this tool to create a trusted device access list. Any device that’s not a part of this list can’t access the USB port. Further, it creates a layer between computers and removable devices, so no malware can impact your network.
• Streamlines File Access Device Control streamlines file access by encouraging you to set certain parameters. For example, you can implement a strict role-based access policy to allow readers only to read a file and not copy them to devices. Similarly, you can set the maximum file size that can be downloaded. This is an advantage because most times, sensitive information is grouped and stored in a master file. Above everything, this tool allows you to monitor file usage and actions as they happen, so you can always stay on top of insider attacks.
• Generates Reports Device Control logs every file activity. It also maintains a record of devices and computers and users that access them. Since every information/activity is logged, you can generate reports at any time for internal viewing and auditing. Further, you can also use it to comply with industry standards. Thus, these are some of the important features of ManageEngine Device Control. In all, this is a comprehensive tool that provides complete control over file access and usage. Plus, the fact that it logs every access and login acts as a big deterrent for employees looking to commit insider thefts.

Pricing: Click here to get a custom quote.

Download: Click here for a free trial version.

2. SysTools USB Blocker

SysTools USB Blocker is a simple tool that blocks and unblocks USB ports from any machine/user. It comes with many features that allow you to block or unblock multiple systems simultaneously.

Features

Here are the salient features of this tool.

• Blocks and Unblocks USB Ports SysTools makes it easy to quickly block or unblock USB ports. This prevents users from using peripheral devices such as USB, flash, and pen drives to copy sensitive information from a computer. But what happens if someone has to copy files for other tasks. In such genuine cases, the admin can unblock the USB ports to provide access to these peripheral devices. With SysTool USB Blocker, both the above tasks are simple and quick.
• Works on Multiple Machines A salient feature of this tool is that you can use it to block or unblock any number of USB ports spread across multiple machines. However, you’ll have to install this tool on all the machines you want to control. Further, you must set the machine and user password and have to use the same credentials for both blocking and unblocking.
• Highly Interactive USB Blocker has a rich and interactive user interface. The obvious advantage of this tool is that it can be used by people of all skill levels. It’s highly intuitive and requires no prior knowledge or experience either.  Due to these features, SysTools USB Blocker is highly user-friendly for people of all technical levels.
• Windows OS SysTools USB Blocker works only on Windows operating systems. It’s compatible with Vista, ME, NT, XP, Win 7, Win 8, Win 8.1, and Windows 10. It also works well on Windows 2000, 2003, and 2008. On all the Windows systems, it requires a minimum of 5MB of hard disk space, 1GB of RAM, and a 2.4GHz processor. Overall, SysTools is a simple and convenient tool to block and unblock USB ports. Its user interface is a huge plus, but the downside is that it doesn’t work on non-Windows computers.

Pricing: SysTools USB Blocker starts at $29.

Download: Click here for a trial version.

3. EndPoint Protector Device Control

EndPoint Protector Device Control is an encompassing security solution that controls and monitors USB ports to prevent any data theft or loss. It comes with many features that provide complete control over USB port usage and the resulting data theft.

Features

EndPoint Protector Device Control comes with many features that provide complete control and visibility over your USB ports and their usage. Here’s a look at some of the important ones.

• Cross-platform This tool works well across platforms and devices, which means, you can monitor your employees’ devices regardless of their underlying operating system. It’s easy to monitor USB and other peripheral ports and you can even set policies that will be applied across all the operating systems.
• Simple and Lightweight A salient aspect of this tool is its simplicity. You can control all remote devices through a single web-based dashboard. Also, there’s no impact on the performance of any device due to this tool. It’s simple to use and requires no advanced technical skills, thereby making it ideal for all kinds of people. No prior training is necessary either.
• Ideal for Remote Working In today’s remote working world, this tool can be a handy way to grant or revoke USB access remotely. More importantly, you can do this even if the end devices are offline. Once the device comes back online, you can get the log reports.
• Granular Control This tool provides granular control over the usage of USB and peripheral ports. Every team or department can even specify which devices’ ports can be used, whitelist or blacklist specific devices, define policies for each user or device, and more. All of these features ensure that the productivity of employees is not impacted and at the same time, it protects your data from theft or loss. You can even go a step further and ensure that all devices used within your organization are encrypted, so a data theft or loss has no meaning to the person doing it.

Overall, EndPoint Protector Device Control is a comprehensive tool that provides granular control of all USB ports, regardless of the operating system or device involved. Further, it is simple and non-intrusive while its web-based interface makes it easy to use for people of all technical levels.

Pricing: Click here to request a quote.

Download: Click here to request a demo.

4. GiliSoft USB Lock

GiliSoft USB Lock, as the name suggests, locks down your USB ports to prevent anyone from illegally copying sensitive data to USB drives, CDs, or any other external storage mechanisms. Typically, this tool blocks all drives and devices that don’t belong to your organization.

Features

Let’s now look at the salient features of the Gilisoft USB lock.

• Blocks Drives Gilisoft USB Lock blocks both USB and SD drives on devices. It can disable both reading and writing on USB drives to protect your computer from not just data loss, but also from anyone installing malicious software. Also, you can whitelist certain trusted devices and these will be given reading and/or writing access, depending on what you want. Such a granular control will ensure that your business operations are not impacted while protecting your device.
• Reporting This tool logs every activity related to driving usage on a computer.  With these logs, you can monitor USB activities, file operations like creation and deletion, history, whitelisted devices, user activity on USB drives, and more. Such comprehensive information is sure to provide the control you need over your devices. Further, this information can come in handy for internal and external auditing. You can even use these reports to prove compliance with industry standards.
• Website and Program Locks Gilisoft USB Lock goes beyond just drives and also locks websites and programs to protect your device. For example, you can block certain websites from displaying on your Internet Explorer. In such cases, the original page is not loaded on the PC and the user is sent to a blank page. You can even customize this blank page to display any message you want. Likewise, you can also block programs to prevent them from executing on any device on your network. The best part is you can do all this with a single click on the control panel.
• Self Protection No one can uninstall this software without proper credentials. Further, admins have the option to make the Gilisoft USB Lock tool invisible, so users don’t even know that there’s protection software running on their device. Lastly, if someone enters a wrong password more than five times, the account is temporarily disabled and a notification is sent to the registered email. All these measures greatly bring down the chances of data theft.

Overall, Gilisoft USB Lock is a simple but effective tool to lock your USB drives and prevent data theft. That said, it works only on Windows 2000, 20003, XP, 7,8, 10, and 11.

Pricing: Gilisoft USB Lock costs $49.95.

Free Trial: Click here to download a free trial.

5. USB Disk Manager

The USB Disk Manager is a free tool that protects your system from any files transmitted to and from a USB drive. Essentially, it prevents your system from preventing any read/write operation on a USB drive. This means, that no malicious software can be transmitted from the USB drive and no one can copy any file to it.

Features:

Some of the salient features of this tool.

• Simple and convenient to use
• Works only on Windows
• Disallow read/write operation on USB drives
• Protects your system from malware or virus transmitted through USB drives
• Reduces the chances for authorized employees to copy sensitive content to a USB drive
• 100% FREE

Download: Click here to download this free Windows utility.

Conclusion

To conclude, USB port locking can prevent data thefts or loss, as no one will be able to copy sensitive files from a computer. At the same time, it will also prevent anyone from copying or installing malicious programs through a USB drive. Due to these benefits, USB port locking software is a must-have in your security arsenal.

In this article, we have listed a few highly effective tools. They come with many features that provide comprehensive security to your system. We hope it helps you to choose a tool that’s the best fit for your work environment.