USBs – Friend Or Foe?

Those of us with a few decades under our belts can remember a workplace in which computers did not exist. By and large, we’ve welcomed computers and their subsequent improvements – the mouse, color monitors, e-mail, and Internet access.

But few things drive productivity better than adequate storage devices. It used to take five or six floppy disks to load some computer programs; now that can be managed with a single CD. I once owned an external hard drive, not as a backup but because I needed the extra storage space. With the advent of the USB interface, a flash drive or memory stick can store gigabytes of data on a device no bigger than my little finger.

In the world of geophysics, USB drives have had an immediate and impressive impact on the transfer of seismic and well log data. These are large datasets that usually can’t be e-mailed or even stored on a DVD. But with the USB drive revolution, geophysical contractors typically deliver data to their clients on devices that connect via USB ports.

This may be changing. Several major companies, concerned about security and malware issues, are moving to ban the use of USB ports within their companies. While this is certainly a quick solution to the security issue, the backlash that will be felt within E&P departments will be huge.

I’ve talked to several geophysicists who are concerned that this ban will seriously hamper their ability to collaborate with other companies. They also worry about how they will get their seismic data from their suppliers. And they worry about presenting at conferences. When presented with alternatives such as emailing the presentation or using their own laptops, many simply find these solutions unacceptable, particularly when a PowerPoint presentation containing seismic examples can be several megabytes in size. Additionally, some companies are banning the use of DVDs and CD-ROMs, which have been industry standards for years for archiving technical conferences and providing collateral material such as maps from contractors. Some companies will provide exceptions to an outright ban, but even those will require password protection and encryption, which can slow things to a crawl. I think it’s time for the industry to come to grips with its dueling needs for productivity and protection. The IT industry can be a huge help here. Already Cloud computing is reducing data storage and processing headaches in other industries, and its adoption in the oil and gas industry could reduce the need for external storage altogether. In the meantime, care needs to be taken not to make such all-encompassing decisions without proper analysis. Banning USB interfaces might solve the security issue, but geoscientists and engineers are not going to be very happy with the consequences.