A person in our office had to put a file on a USB drive as it was too large to email. Later she found out that she shouldn't have.
Since she didn't know the company policy, she has probably copied other files in the past. Is there a way to check her computer to see which files she has copied to her USB flash drives (without having access to them)?
62 Answers
By default, no version of Windows creates a log of files that have been copied, whether to/from USB drives or anywhere else.
While I've not done so myself, it's my understanding Windows 7 does support auditing of file or folder access. If this happens to already be configured in your environment, this is likely to be your best shot at determining if the files in question have been copied.
Another, perhaps more manageable solution would be to use the Device Control features available in more advanced endpoint security products. For example, Symantec Endpoint Protection can be configured to restrict user access to USB thumb drives or external hard drives. This can be used to support an already in-place organization policy prohibiting users from taking digital assets without authorization.
1Do you mean she's not allowed to plug in USB devices at work?
You can't see what files are on a USB drive without connecting it to some type of computer, so just use another computer/tablet/phone.
It's possible the work computer has extensive logging, maybe an administrator could find out what files were copied, you should ask the IT department at work about that.
