Un-managed SaaS data access creates risk
According to a new report 40 percent of all SaaS assets are un-managed, leading to a greater degree of internal, external, and public access to sensitive data.
The report from data access company DoControl categorizes data by insider and external threats. It finds that, in companies analyzed, an average of 400 encryption keys are shared internally to anyone with a link.
In addition 20 percent of SaaS assets are shared internally with a link, exposing many employees to data points they are not authorized to view. Eight percent of employees also share their corporate account assets with their personal account, exposing company data to employees on an ongoing basis.
Turning to external threats, the study finds between 1,000 and 15,000 external collaborators (vendors, contractors, customers, partners, prospects, media, analysts, etc.) have access to company data. Between 200 and 3,000 external (specifically third-party) companies also have access to company assets, and 18 percent of SaaS application assets are shared externally and remain shared externally even after deleting users.
"The past year forced many organizations to collaborate with many external parties and adjust their existing workforce to support remote collaboration," says Adam Gavish, CEO and co-founder of DoControl. "To date, security practitioners have focused on enabling SaaS access in a secure manner, but now is the time to prioritize the relevancy of this data access internally and externally. Unmanageable data access poses a significant risk to any organization and increases the likelihood of a data breach. While SaaS apps are designed to promote collaboration, this also creates an ever-growing attack surface that requires attention to ongoing data access at scale. DoControl is committed to helping organizations ensure that no unauthorized person has access to company data, all without slowing down business enablement or changing the end-user’s day-to-day work."
The full report is available from the DoControl site.
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