These 10 shocking stats reveal the danger shadow I.T poses to your data security. Stats that you can’t afford to ignore when you consider that 88% of cloud applications aren’t enterprise-ready and 84% of UK CIOs fear they are losing control of I.T.

1. How Is Your
Data Shared?
10 Surprising Stats
10 STATISTICS THAT REVEAL THE RISKS TO SECURITY WHEN
SHADOW I.T IS USED FOR DATA SHARING, ON A SCALE THAT
I.T LEADERS ARE ONLY JUST BEGINNING TO GRASP.
BOB DIMICCO, GLOBAL LEADER AND FOUNDER OF CISCO’S
CLOUD CONSUMPTION SERVICE PRACTICE
“IT has lost control here
because organizations,
lines of business are saying
I can go to the web and get
an application or a service
within minutes and start
being productive.”
74%
Of European IT leaders say they have an incomplete
understanding of their organisations: this must be reversed if
they are to turn Shadow IT into a positive opportunity to meet
internal and external data sharing needs.
1:
2:
FALLING SHORT
88%
Of cloud applications are not enterprise-ready. But this will
not stop determined employees from using them if they can
expect quick benefits and boost productivity – and you aren’t
providing the right alternative.
Put another way…
3:
NON-COMPLIANT
Of cloud services don’t meet existing compliance requirements.
Their continued unchecked use is leaving a gaping hole in data
security, even in the most regulated sectors.
7%
4:
HEAD IN THE SAND?
89%
Of UK CIOs don’t apply the same I.T service
management processes to applications running in the
public cloud as they do to internal applications – a head-
in-the-sand approach which fails to account for the
extent of Shadow I.T-enabled data sharing.
5:
KNOWLEDGE GAP
37%
Of CSOs suspect that individual users or business units regularly use
applications or put data in the cloud without consulting IT. But why
don’t they know for sure?
ANARCHY RULES
31%
Of organisations have no security policies, procedures or tools in
place to specifically address the use of external cloud services. If
end-users don’t know the rules, why should they give a second
thought to data security when they are seizing the initiative and
using Shadow I.T to get a task well done?
6:
7:
FINANCIAL HIT
$13.5 million
The potential cost to a business of theft or compromised security
when data is exposed in the cloud via storage service providers
such as DropBox or Google Drive, including compliance-related
fines.
INTERNAL ASSUMPTIONS
70,000
8:
The number of documents out of 2.5 million files, stored
for internal use in Google Drive, which one media company
discovered was publicly exposed during an audit.
9:
SHARING AND CARING
26%
10%
The volume of documents broadly shared by every individual
user in the cloud, of which...
Contain compliance-related data – an alarm call for
every IT leader: Shadow IT applications are your
responsibility, too!
LICENCE TO SAVE
$140
10:
The amount of licence savings lost per person when a business lets
its employees choose their own cloud services and applications. A
well-conceived unified communications strategy could cut costs
and reinforce data security.
MATT CAIN, RESEARCH VICE PRESIDENT, GARTNER
“Organisations that formally
embrace and extend the digital
competencies of their employees
will experience improved
business outcomes and gain
competitive advantage.”
IT’S EASY - AND DANGEROUS - TO IGNORE THE SCALE ON WHICH YOUR
DATA IS PROBABLY BEING SHARED IN THE PUBLIC CLOUD.
THE EXTENT TO WHICH YOUR PEOPLE ARE USING SHADOW IT SHOULD
TELL YOU A LOT ABOUT WHAT THEY REALLY NEED TO HELP THEM SHARE
DATA SECURELY.
BY FAR THE MAJORITY OF CLOUD APPLICATIONS WOULD FAIL YOUR
COMPLIANCE TEST - SO MAKE IT YOUR PRIORITY TO DISCOVER WHY
PEOPLE ARE STILL USING THEM IN YOUR BUSINESS.
SOURCES
http://www.cio.com/article/2968281/cio-role/cios-vastly-underestimate-extent-of-shadow-it.html
http://www.claranet.co.uk/about-us/news/shadow-it-opportunity-innovate-suggests-claranet-research
http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/cloud-services/how-to-ensure-that-shadow-it-doesn-t-put-your-data-at-risk-in-2015-1283117
http://info.skyhighnetworks.com/WP-CARR-Q2-2015_Download_White.html?Source=website&LSource=website
http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/2419409/cios-worried-cloud-computing-and-shadow-it-creating-security-risks
https://www.symantec.com/content/en/us/enterprise/other_resources/b-enterprise-security-in-the-cloud.en-us.pdf
https://www.elastica.net/q2-2015-shadow-data-report/
http://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/349272/2016-Report-ShadowData-2H_2015/2H_2015_Shadow_Data_Report.pdf
http://www.channelweb.co.uk/crn-uk/news/2422814/attempts-to-curtail-shadow-it-futile-says-gartner
TAKEAWAYS
[Enjoy sharing]