Dive Brief:
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About 44% of organizations' cloud applications were exposed to at least one strand of malware, according to a Bitglass report, which scanned customers' cloud applications, looking at the proliferation of malware across tens of millions of files. About one-third of organizations had at least one threat identified in a SaaS application.
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Microsoft OneDrive accounts for 55% of infected incidents followed by Google Drive at 43%, and Dropbox and Box each at 33%.
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Of the approximately 450,000 files companies store in the cloud, one in 20,000 files are likely to contain malware. About 42% of script and executable formats are the most infected, followed by 21% of office formats and 10% of Windows System files.
Dive Insight:
Without adequate security, malicious actors can use the cloud as the ideal weapon for dispersing malware across connected networks and devices.
Most infected files are activated through human error, such as opening a phishing email. But once those files are opened and exposed to the cloud, malware can spread quickly.
Because the cloud has become the dominant tool for storage and managing workloads, having the right tools in place to effectively monitor the activity on cloud-based apps an obvious need.
Experts are increasingly recommending cloud access security brokers (CASB). CASBs are "cloud-based security policy enforcement points" used between cloud customers and their vendors to provide additional security measures while files in the cloud are accessed, according to Gartner.
CASBs are usually AI-based but include functions for authentication, profiling devices, malware detection and notifications. The extra layer of protection CASBs provide organizations is invaluable to the structure of an organization's cybersecurity. Companies can no longer be reliant on the internal security of the products and services they purchase alone.
