In short, while there was no evidence that unsanctioned app use is routine or normalized, it is likely that enough staff are using them to make a serious breach possible at some point. The report concludes that one of the reasons staff have taken to these messaging apps was that they lack convenient alternatives. It recommends developing approved apps to remove this need,
Cloud migration and flexible working policies have contributed to the sprawl, but part of the reason it's so unmanageable is that companies still rely on the same old discovery tools built for a static network. Whenever we scan a new environment, we always uncover a large number of devices that were completely off the radar and out of scope of the protection of their IT and security policies.
"It's allowing new entry points, new data export points, and it also is making it so that there are some features that, before they have any enterprise level controls around them, they become a point for data in and out that the company has no visibility into or the ability to control."