Over three quarters of companies ban their employees from using Cloud-based file synchronisation services due to data security concerns. 

That’s according to new research from Varonis Systems which interviewed decision makers about the emerging shift from bring your own device (BYOD) to bring your own services (BYOS) and found 70% would allow these services if they were as robust as internal tools.

The report showed that companies refuse staff from using these services due to fears of data leakage, security breaches and compliance issues.

Those that have implemented the services safeguard themselves from security threats by using a combination of policy backed up with blocking techniques to stem the tide of enterprise files spilling onto external servers and devices (59%) or rely on policy alone to stop the mass leakage of proprietary and regulated data (20%), said the report. 

However, the research found a fifth of companies have no measures in place at all to prevent their staff from accessing file synchronisation tools.

David Gibson, VP of Strategy at Varonis, said: “As workers are increasingly required to divide their time between working on the move, at home and in the office, companies and employees alike yearn for the ease of use and convenience of file synch services.

“Even organisations that block these services may have employees using them when they’re not connected to the corporate network, breaching the defences of a corporation and introducing a host of new vulnerabilities.”