Survey: Vast Majority of Employees Use Unauthorized File Sharing Services

According to a recent survey conducted by Workshare, most employees (81%) access work documents on the go, but most (72%) are using unauthorized file-sharing services.

Workshare, which provides solutions to enable controlled mobile file sharing, compiled the report based on data collected from more than 5,000 responses spanning companies in the UK, EMEA, and the U.S.

“The findings reveal the true extent to which mobile users are increasingly circumventing policies set by IT and using unsanctioned applications to share large files and collaborate on documents outside of the office,” Workshare said in a statement. “This raises major concerns over the security of corporate documents and personal information and highlights the challenges facing IT when it comes to enabling mobility while ensuring data governance and mitigating risk.”

Workshare suggests that organizations act quickly to control of their documents and corporate intellectual property, as the survey revealed that:

• 72% of those questioned had not received authorization from their IT department to use their consumer-based file sharing application, up from 66% in 2012.

• Over half (62%) of knowledge workers use their personal devices for work.

• The majority (69%) of these workers also use free file sharing services to collaborate and access shared documents

“Businesses can no longer ignore mobility trends. Instead, they must find ways to meet their needs, while meeting strict security demands,” said Anthony Foy, CEO of Workshare.

“By 2015, most very large enterprises will have to provide more structured and formalized support for employees who elect to use personal mobile devices for work – including smartphones and tablet PCs,” wrote Brownlee Thomas, Forrester Research. “In a recent survey, we learned that supporting more types of mobile devices and platforms will be a critical or high priority during the next 12 months for 73% of firms with 5,000-plus employees, and also for 67% of firms with 1,000 to 4,999 employees.”