Although organisational regulations and technical security procedures for portable IT systems and mobile storage media exist in organisations, they are often not sufficiently observed and implemented by employees. Mobile storage media are frequently left unattended in meeting rooms or even on trains, for example.

In addition, gifts in the form of storage media (such as USB pen drives) can be accepted by employees and indiscriminately connected to their own laptops. This carries the risk that a laptop will be infected with malware, which could lead to sensitive data being stolen, manipulated, or encrypted.

On public transport or even during business meals, people can often be observed conducting open conversations about business-critical information. This can easily be overheard by outsiders and potentially used to seriously disadvantage the employee or their organisation.