Cloud Security Tool Helps Control Runaway 'Shadow IT'

Similar to the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) problem that enterprise IT and security managers have to deal with, today's plethora of cloud-based applications and services presents another security problem.

To deal with possible security risks from unauthorized use of the cloud, CipherCloud on Wednesday announced the CipherCloud for Cloud Discovery solution, designed to give enterprises real-time and granular visibility into whatever cloud applications might be in use throughout an organization.

"Rather than waiting for traditional IT services, many employees have adopted a wide range of cloud applications," the company said. "Yet, this adoption of cloud applications introduces significant risks for enterprises when there is no assurance that they are legitimate, well managed and follow security best practices."

The free solution helps CIOs, CSOs and other IT staffers discover, analyze and rate the risk of thousands of cloud apps in areas such as CRM, finance, human resources, file sharing, collaboration, productivity and others.

Enterprise IT pros can use the Cloud Discovery product to analyze network logs, providing visibility into all the cloud apps in use and comprehensive risk ratings.

Using a drill-down dashboard, users can spot the top cloud apps being used and associated risk levels using a range of security metrics. They can then decide what actions to take, if any, to mitigate risks.

CipherCloud contrasted its service with alternative solutions that it said require users to send sensitive logs outside the organization for analysis. Instead, customers retain full control of those audit logs, the company said.

"Raising the bar for cloud information protection today requires security to be in lock step with visibility," said Pravin Kothari, founder and CEO of CipherCloud, in a statement. "Insight into cloud applications usage helps companies create intelligent data protection and user monitoring strategies. We are pleased to offer this capability free to the market."

IT administrators can output data in a range of formats by using Splunk, a popular software offering that searches, monitors and analyzes machine-generated data.

Besides requiring the use of Splunk, users must be able to provide logs from a Blue Coat proxy, the company said. The new product is offered free of charge to qualified customers, who can register here.

Posted by David Ramel on 05/01/2014 at 9:44 AM