- 13.6 percent of enterprise users have had their account credentials compromised
- 70 percent of uploads to cloud apps by people with compromised accounts are to apps rated “poor” in terms of enterprise-readiness
- More than a quarter of organizations have more than 1,000 cloud apps in use
LOS ALTOS, Calif. – April 14, 2015 – Netskope, the leader in safe cloud enablement, today released the April 2015 Netskope Cloud Report™ that monitors enterprise cloud app usage and trends. The report details the continued impact of compromised cloud app credentials to enterprises.
The report found that more than seven out of ten uploads from users with compromised accounts are to apps with a “poor” rating in the Netskope Cloud Confidence Index*. Additionally, 23.6 percent of logins to Customer Relationship Management (CRM) apps come from compromised accounts. Cloud app usage continues to grow across enterprise organizations; the report found that more than 25 percent of organizations in the Netskope Cloud use more than 1,000 apps.
The average number of cloud apps (both sanctioned and unsanctioned) continued to grow: organizations now use an average of 730 cloud apps. This represents a 16 percent increase from the previous quarter. Nine out of every ten apps in use today are not enterprise ready, scoring a “medium” or below in the Netskope Cloud Confidence IndexTM (CCI). Also, according to Netskope’s study, 13.6 percent of app users have had their account credentials compromised.
“While there’s a more common understanding and acceptance of ‘shadow IT’ across organizations, there’s a corresponding rise in the volume of unsanctioned cloud apps in use,” said Sanjay Beri, CEO and founder, Netskope. “This should give IT pause, but it’s not a cause for mass panic. Like it or not, this is the new reality for IT; it’s thus critical that organizations maintain a deep level of visibility and governance over their cloud app infrastructure so they can spot and mitigate a suspicious pattern before it becomes an issue.”
Top 10 Most Popular Cloud App Categories
In addition to the consumer and prosumer apps that organizations expect to find in use (such as Twitter, Dropbox, and Evernote) line of business apps are most prevalent within organizations. Marketing remains the most prevalent category; however, nearly all marketing apps rate at a “medium” or below on the CCI. More than 90 percent of apps in categories including Human Resources, Collaboration, and Finance/Accounting also rate at a “medium” or below on the CCI.
Category | Number per Enterprise | Percent Not Enterprise-Ready | |
1 | Marketing | 64 | 98.5% |
2 | Collaboration | 47 | 83.1% |
3 | Finance/Accounting | 40 | 93.2% |
4 | Human Resources | 40 | 96.6% |
5 | Productivity | 37 | 96.9% |
6 | CRM/SFA | 35 | 91.5% |
7 | Cloud Storage | 34 | 72.6% |
8 | Software Development | 26 | 90.9% |
9 | Infrastructure | 21 | 84.4% |
10 | Social | 19 | 79.9% |
Top-Used Apps in Business
As in past reports, Cloud Storage and Social apps dominate the top 20 apps used in business, and comprise nearly a third (32 percent) of total cloud app usage. Based on distinct app sessions, the top used apps reflect all cloud app access points tracked by the Netskope Active Platform**. Other categories represented include Webmail, Collaboration, and Customer Relationship Management/Salesforce Automation (CRM/SFA).
Cloud App | Category | |
1 | Social | |
2 | Google Drive | Cloud Storage |
3 | Google Gmail | Webmail |
4 | Social | |
5 | iCloud | Cloud Storage |
6 | Google Docs | Productivity |
7 | YouTube | Consumer |
8 | Social | |
9 | Dropbox | Cloud Storage |
10 | Microsoft OneDrive | Cloud Storage |
11 | Salesforce | CRM/SFA |
12 | Cisco WebEx | Collaboration |
13 | Evernote | Productivity |
14 | RingCentral | Telecom |
15 | Okta | Security |
16 | Microsoft Live Outlook.com | Webmail |
17 | Box | Storage & Collaboration |
18 | DocuSign | Electronic Signature |
19 | SuccessFactors | Human Resources |
20 | Microsoft Office 365 Word | Productivity |
Top Policy Violations
Policies can be enforced based on a number of factors, including user, group, location, device, DLP profile, activity, and more. Policies observed include: blocking the download of personally-identifiable information from an HR app to a mobile device; to alerting when users share documents in Cloud Storage apps with someone outside of the company; to blocking unauthorized users from modifying fields in Financial/Accounting apps. Data loss prevention (DLP) policy violations involving the download of data outnumber those involving the upload of it by more than two to one. The three top categories for DLP policy violations include Cloud Storage, Webmail, and CRM/SFA.
Top Activities Triggering Policy Violation |
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Edit |
Share |
Create |
Delete |
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Netskope Resources
- To download the Netskope Cloud ReportTM: netskope.com/netskope-cloud-report
- To learn how to find, understand, and secure enterprise cloud apps, visit: netskope.com/netskope-one
- For the latest commentary and insight on trends from the Netskope team, visit the Netskope’s Hub: netskope.com/h/
About the Netskope Cloud Report
Based on aggregated, anonymized data from the Netskope Active Platform, which provides discovery, deep visibility, and granular control over any cloud app, the report’s findings are based on millions of users in hundreds of accounts in the global Netskope Active Platform from January – March 2015.