Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Subscribe
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Subscribe
    Home Cybersecurity
    • Cybersecurity

    Study Finds Companies Need to Monitor Use of Big-4 Cloud Platforms

    Written by

    Robert Lemos
    Published March 21, 2015
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.

      Companies worried about sensitive data leaking out to the cloud should start focusing on four popular cloud-service ecosystems—those of Box, Dropbox, Google Apps and Salesforce, according to the latest data from cloud management provider Netskope.

      The company analyzed data from its customers and found that more than a third of all sessions from mobile and cloud applications connected to those four services. The collection of connected apps and back-end cloud services formed ecosystems that handle a great deal of sensitive data. Because so much data is traveling between mobile apps, Web applications and these “anchor tenants,” as Netskope calls them, companies need visibility into the patterns of access to the services to spot breaches.

      In most cases, the services themselves are sanctioned by the business’s information-technology group, but employees often connect unsanctioned applications to the back-end services, resulting in data potentially passing through insecure—or at the very least, unauthorized—applications, Rajneesh Chopra, vice president of product management at Netskope, told eWEEK.

      When the company looked at the policy violations flagged by data-loss prevention technology, data going through the four ecosystems accounted for about three-quarters of all policy violations.

      “These are data-specific violations—sensitive data being shared with people who it is not meant to be shared with,” Chopra said. “The large majority of the applications connected to these ecosystems are unsanctioned.”

      Data accessed by unsanctioned applications is at risk of being leaked, or at the very least of violating compliance regulations. Many companies focus on whether data is stored in a known and vetted cloud service, such as Box or Salesforce, and not what other applications are accessing the stored data, Chopra said.

      The Netskope analysis is one the first to look at the growing ecosystems in which data is shared by employees. While software and operating system ecosystems surrounding specific platforms—such as Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android—are better understood, the data ecosystems are beginning to have an impact on security.

      While not every company sanctions the use of each of the four ecosystems, business data is often stored in the four services. The average company had 28 Box, 20 Dropbox, 19 Google Apps and 26 Salesforce ecosystem apps. Box, Dropbox and Google Apps also had a wide variety of applications types, with Box, for example, accounting for 40 of the 55 types of applications tracked by Netskope, such as marketing, collaboration and productivity apps.

      Salesforce, the most mature ecosystem, accounts for 15.3 percent of all business data that’s downloaded from the cloud and 13.5 percent of all data shared by employees using cloud services, according to Netskope’s analysis. The Salesforce ecosystem accounts for a large portion of policy violations, about 44 percent, as determined by alerts issued by data-loss prevention technology.

      “We believe this is high because the vast majority of DLP violations occur in storage and social media apps, two of the top three categories represented in the Salesforce ecosystem,” the report stated. “This underscores the importance of extending data security policies beyond Salesforce—or another anchor tenant—to the entire ecosystem.”

      The analysis is based on anonymous usage statistics observed by Netskope based on tens of billions of events seen across millions of users during a three-month period ending March 1, 2015. Neither Apple’s nor Microsoft’s cloud-data ecosystems were significant enough in the enterprise to be included in the report, Netskope said.

      Robert Lemos
      Robert Lemos
      Robert Lemos is an award-winning journalist who has covered information security, cybercrime and technology's impact on society for almost two decades. A former research engineer, he's written for Ars Technica, CNET, eWEEK, MIT Technology Review, Threatpost and ZDNet. He won the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi award from the Society of Professional Journalists in 2003 for his coverage of the Blaster worm and its impact, and the SANS Institute's Top Cybersecurity Journalists in 2010 and 2014.

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Artificial Intelligence

      9 Best AI 3D Generators You Need...

      Sam Rinko - June 25, 2024 0
      AI 3D Generators are powerful tools for many different industries. Discover the best AI 3D Generators, and learn which is best for your specific use case.
      Read more
      Cloud

      RingCentral Expands Its Collaboration Platform

      Zeus Kerravala - November 22, 2023 0
      RingCentral adds AI-enabled contact center and hybrid event products to its suite of collaboration services.
      Read more
      Artificial Intelligence

      8 Best AI Data Analytics Software &...

      Aminu Abdullahi - January 18, 2024 0
      Learn the top AI data analytics software to use. Compare AI data analytics solutions & features to make the best choice for your business.
      Read more
      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Video

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2024 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.