One in five employees has uploaded proprietary corporate data to a cloud application, such as Dropbox or Google Docs, with the specific intent of sharing it outside of the company.
This should raise alarms with companies around the world, as more and more businesses adopt the use of cloud applications to share mission-critical information.
SailPoint’s 7th Annual Market Pulse Survey also found a clear disconnect between cloud usage and existing IT controls, with 66% of users able to access those cloud storage applications after leaving their last job.
60% of those surveyed were aware that their employer strictly forbids taking intellectual property after leaving the company, yet one in four admitted they would take copies of corporate data with them when leaving a company.
"The survey results are an eye opener of how cloud applications have made it easy for employees to take information with them when they leave a company," said Kevin Cunningham, president and founder of SailPoint.
"With almost 20 per cent of employees purchasing a cloud application for work without involving the IT departments, combined with the ability for employees to use consumer cloud apps for work activities, it’s virtually impossible to manage access to applications and the sharing of mission-critical data."
"In order to establish control over this ‘bring your own app’ phenomenon, it’s critical to provide specific incentives for end users to follow corporate policy such as offering users a seamless login experience in exchange for using a central access control framework."
SailPoint’s 2014 Market Pulse Survey interviewed 1,000 office workers at large companies with at least 3,000 employees across Australia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States.
