Bitglass, a Campbell, California-based cloud security gateway provider, today launched a free service that analyzes an enterprise’s risk of data leakage from employees’ use of unauthorized cloud applications.

The new service, Bitglass Cloud Discovery, enables enterprises to evaluate unauthorized cloud application usage, aka “shadow IT,” by identifying which apps employees are using and suspicious and high-risk activities.

“‘Shadow IT’ refers to cloud applications purchased by employees or groups without the involvement of enterprise IT. This poses security and compliance risks since sensitive corporate data is stored in shadow IT cloud apps, yet the company has no control over that data,” Bitglass CEO Nat Kausik told Talkin’ Cloud. “Bitglass Cloud Discovery identifies all cloud apps in use, allowing the company to decide which apps to block at the firewall and which to enable safely.”

Bitglass Cloud Discovery draws from a database of thousands of cloud applications to analyze the risk of data leakage through unauthorized apps in enterprises.

The shadow IT analysis service also categorizes all of the cloud apps in use on an enterprise’s network, according to Bitglass.

Enterprises can use Bitglass Cloud Discovery to analyze shadow IT risks

A May 2014 Forrester Research study showed many IT professionals view shadow IT risks as problems that are “here to stay and cannot be ignored.”

Kausik said he believes Bitglass Cloud Discovery can help enterprises improve their IT security and eliminate these issues.

The service allows enterprises to protect themselves from the security and compliance risks associated with unauthorized cloud application adoption, Bitglass said, because it operates a risk engine that continuously scans the Internet for changes to cloud apps and calculates their associated risks.

“In light of the daily drumbeat of data breaches in healthcare, financial services and other industries involving sensitive information, enterprises must protect themselves against leakage of corporate data through unauthorized cloud applications,” Kausik said in a prepared statement. “Bitglass Cloud Discovery brings shadow IT into the light so organizations can see what’s going on and take appropriate action.”

Bitglass Cloud Discovery is available free of charge for log files up to 1 GB.

Share your thoughts about this story in the Comments section below, via Twitter @dkobialka or email me at [email protected].