(NYSE:IBM) disclosed that its objective of the new tool was to prevent any leakage of sensitive data through the rogue cloud apps.
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IBM has created a Cloud Security Enforcer service to give companies a more commanding view of all third-party cloud apps used by their employees and new powers to secure them.
So-called bring your own app usage has surged in enterprises.
IBM claims that 40 percent of mobile apps aren’t secure before they’re made available to the public.
Further, IBM said the Cloud Security Enforcer also features added security checks on the integrity and safety of apps being used by employees. The Millennial generation (those born between 1982 and 2002) are the worst offenders and the biggest users of cloud apps, according to IBM’s study. In fact, Gartner has even defined a category around this software called “Cloud Access Security Brokers”.
“We believe that this IBM cloud tool will surely stand out in the market as it not only makes cloud computing safe in corporations, but also efficient as employees have the freedom to use various cloud applications”, an official said. These combined capabilities enable companies to equip their workforce with a secure way to access and use the apps that they want. By 2020 half the employees at Fortune 1000 companies will be millennials and of these 51 per cent use cloud services at work.
For example, an employee could use their personal email to set up an account on a third-party, file-sharing cloud app, to which they would then upload their team’s sales contacts in order to see them on their mobile device. Barlow acknowledges that Shadow IT can be a huge benefit to organizations, helping employee to find ways to do their jobs more efficiently. IBM has also built connectors for Office 365, Google Apps, and Salesforce among others.
IBM claimed that its new technology will help organizations to reduce the challenges of “Shadow IT and defend against malicious actors looking to prey on unsafe cloud app usage”.
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The technology delivers four core capabilities. It also protects against employee-induced and cloud-based threats through analysis of real-time threat data from IBM’s X-Force Exchange.
