How More Cloud Services Put the Business at Risk- Valutrics

By now, CIOs and their IT teams must think that they’ve spent countless hours talking to their organization’s employees about the inherent dangers of the Internet age. But risky user behavior is still alive and well, according to a recent survey from Softchoice. The report, titled “(Still) Careless Users in the Cloud,” reveals that a significant share of professionals are downloading apps (frequently through the cloud) without informing the tech department of their actions, i.e., “shadow IT.” Many put their passwords on public display, jotting them down on highly visible sticky notes. Some have lost devices with unprotected access to work data. And others manage passwords in docs which aren’t—ironically—password-protected. So, regardless of how much time you’ve put into educating the masses, you likely should consider stepping up training efforts on acceptable device, app and cloud practices. “Risky behavior and data vulnerabilities are almost guaranteed to persist if organizations don’t provide training and direction on cyber-security best practices for the apps, platforms and IT tools employees use on a daily basis,” said David MacDonald, president and CEO of Softchoice. “Employees display a wide range of bad habits, from lax password security to rogue IT behavior. If something doesn’t change, organizations will be placed in an extremely vulnerable position.” An estimated 1,500 North American employees who use tech on the job took part in the research.