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Dangers of Cloud Sharing Apps

By December 13, 2016March 30th, 2019Blog

As technology has become more reliable and advanced, cloud sharing has become an increasingly popular way to share information and store it. Cloud sharing is everywhere in personal lives as well as in the business world. However, this easy sharing comes with a high risk for malware worming its way through and corrupting the system.

Netskope recently released their 2016 cloud report with a focus on ransomware. According to the report, on average enterprises use 977 cloud apps. This number has increased from last quarter by 42 apps and will only be increasing as time goes on. With so many companies using cloud sharing it’s important that employees are aware of malicious emails and are being educated on what to be looking for and what to do if they believe that have received one. Everything that has been shared between those in a company could become compromised if malware has made its way in.

Netskope reported that more than half of all malware infected files are shared with others. In last quarter’s report, 26.2% of malware was shared with others, this included being shared to internal or external users or sharing publicly. This quarter it has jumped to an alarming 55.9%. This percentage raises concern for many businesses that are using cloud sharing services and demonstrates how important it is to have an effective email security system in place in order to keep the potential for spam at a minimum.

On average enterprises use 977 cloud apps

With so many companies needing to have information quickly and readily available to employees, cloud sharing has become the most organized and easiest way to achieve it. Giving employees access to everything, anytime, anywhere seems like a great idea, but all it takes is one person clicking the wrong link to start a organizational disaster. Ransomware attacks can cripple the entire IT system causing the organization to shut down or limp along for days resulting in loss of time, money and reputation.

Most ransomware currently gains entrance through some type of phishing email scheme. Companies can avoid many threats by simply adding an extra layer of email security system to their existing cyber security solution that eliminates spam.