Use of personal consumer-grade cloud storage services (such as Dropbox and Google Drive) is so prevalent that, according to Intermedia’s research, companies employing 100 staff may find that corporate data is stored on at least 103 different personal accounts.
“These figures reveal some disturbing trends about how employees are sharing files at work. Allowing staff to use personal cloud storage is risky and leaves an organisation wide open to data theft and regulatory compliance failures,” commented Jonathan Levine, CTO at Intermedia. “For instance, many businesses probably haven’t considered what happens if an employee stores confidential corporate data in their personal Dropbox account then quits or the repercussions of any employee deleting crucial work files when they leave.”
“Consumer-driven services like Dropbox don’t belong in the enterprise, and businesses should find the right file sync and share solution that offers a good balance between IT control and ease of use – and, most importantly, keeps a business’ data safe,” adds Levine.