Employees Go Rogue for File-Sharing Needs

Egnyte, Inc., provider of file-sharing platform for the enterprise, released the results of its Rogue Cloud in Business survey conducted online by Harris Interactive, Inc. among more than 2,000 U.S. adults.

The survey results illustrate a major exposure for today’s businesses when it comes to the transfer and storage of data through unapproved and insecure cloud-only file-sharing services. IT teams, do you know what your users are doing with your business-sensitive data?

According to the survey, more than 1 in 4 (27%) file-share service users report still having access to documents from that previous employer and nearly 2 in 5 (38%) previous and current users have transferred sensitive files through file-sharing services that are not approved by IT.

The survey results underscore the fact that employees want easy access to files and will adopt tools that allow them to easily share and collaborate on projects, with or without IT’s consent. The new survey uncovers deep issues around the rogue usage of consumer-based cloud services and illustrates the need for IT to deploy a secure enterprise-grade solution that meets the file-sharing needs of employees while protecting sensitive business data from the risks associated with insecure file sharing through the cloud.

Survey Highlights:

• 51% of employed individuals agree that collaborating on file-sharing services (such as Dropbox and YouSendIt) is secure for business documents.
• 46% of employed individuals agree that it would be easy to take sensitive business documents to another employer.
• 41% of employed individuals agree that they could easily transfer business-sensitive data outside the company using a file-sharing service.
• 31% of employed individuals agree that they would share large documents that are too big for email through a file-sharing service without checking with their IT departments.
• 38% of employed individuals that have used file-sharing services have transferred sensitive files on an unapproved file-sharing service to someone else at least once; 10% have done it 6 or more times.

With employees needing quick access to files in today’s fast-paced business environment, they look for easy ways to share their files if an enterprise-grade platform isn’t in place. Wholesale drug company H.D. Smith services more than 3,000 independent retail pharmacies, institutions, durable medical equipment retailers, acute care and alternate site facilities nationwide. The company is in the process of standardizing on Egnyte company-wide and moving employees away from Dropbox because it lacks the features or controls necessary to keep the company’s business-critical information secure.

“In order to ensure our most critical business files are protected at all times, we’re in the process of standardizing on Egnyte,” said Mike Betty, IT manager, H.D. Smith. “Some of our employees were using Dropbox to share documents, and not only did that put our company data at risk, we had no way of knowing what they were doing or who was accessing those files. Egnyte’s encryption and auditing capabilities give us the control and visibility we need.”

Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of Egnyte from August 22-26, 2013 among 2,020 adults ages 18 and older; among whom 1,006 were identified as currently employed. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.