NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - Jun 25, 2012) - Research from Varonis Systems Inc. (http://www.varonis.com), the leading provider of comprehensive data governance software, has found that 67% of respondents say that senior management in their organizations either don't know where all company data resides or are not sure. In addition, 74% of organizations reported that they do not have a process for tracking which files have been placed on third party cloud digital collaboration and storage services. The survey was distributed to the attendees at EMC World and individuals from over 400 companies participated in the survey. With Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) -- particularly mobile and tablet devices -- and file synch services booming, companies are open to a wave of potential devastation. Files kept on third party cloud services can be lost, misplaced, accessed by unauthorized people or leave the company with the employee, causing data privacy and compliance issues.
Alarmingly, of those that are allowing cloud-based file synchronization services, only 9% of respondents' companies have a process for authorizing and reviewing access to cloud repositories in place, with another 23% still developing their access policies. The remaining 68% either have no plans in place that they are aware of, or live without formal processes for granting and reviewing access. Without control over access, or knowledge of where potentially sensitive organizational data resides, data is virtually 'up for grabs.'
Given the risk and operational implications of moving data into a cloud environment, it is hardly surprising that 78% of those surveyed would prefer to use their existing permissions and storage if they were able to provide collaboration and file synchronization services similar to those available in the cloud. Equally, the majority of respondents (57%) reported that BYOD would be more attractive for their organization if they could provide secure access to their internal file shares for collaboration.
"The results clearly show a lack of control by those organizations that have adopted cloud file sync services," said David Gibson, VP of Strategy at Varonis. "The most disturbing findings were the number of companies that report they have no way to track what data is being stored in the cloud, no process to manage access to that data (or plans to do so), and that management doesn't know where enterprise data is stored. This should act as a wakeup call for organizations to develop a conscious strategy to ensure secure collaboration as quickly as possible."
David Gibson's tips for secure collaboration are:
- Create an inventory of your most used collaboration platforms to get an overview where data lives, who has access to it, and who is using it.
- Identify data owners for each data set and have owners perform a preliminary entitlement review to see if data is stored in the right place and if the right people have access to it.
- Remediate any exposures, such as data that is accessible to too many people or regulated/sensitive content that is stored in the wrong place.
- Monitor access to all data -- this will help easily identity data owners and identify unused data and abuse.
- Put a process into place that provides secure collaboration for remote employees -- including synchronization, mobile device support and extranet functionality -- that works within the existing enterprise servers and infrastructure.
To download the full Cloud Synchronization Services Research report, visit http://hub.varonis.com/CloudSurvey
About Varonis Systems
Varonis is the leader in unstructured and semi-structured data governance software. Based on patented technology and a highly accurate analytics engine, Varonis solutions give organizations total visibility and control over their data, ensuring that only the right users have access to the right data at all times from all devices, all use is monitored, and abuse is flagged.
Varonis makes digital collaboration secure, effortless and efficient so that people can create and share content easily with whom they must, and organizations can be confident their content is protected and managed efficiently.
Voted one of the "Fast 50 Reader Favorites" on FastCompany.com, and winner of the SC Magazine Innovation, Product or Service of the Year, and Best Network Security Awards, Varonis has more than 4,500 installations worldwide and is headquartered in New York, with regional offices in Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Varonis, the Varonis logo, DatAdvantage®, DataPrivilege® and the IDU Classification Framework® are registered trademarks of Varonis® Systems in the United States and/or other countries and Metadata Framework™ is under a registration process in the United States and/or other countries. All other product and company names and marks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners and are mentioned for identification purposes only.
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