The report, based on an analysis of 10 million users, 1 billion files and almost 160,000 unique applications, states that the two years from 2014 to 2016 have seen an almost 30x increase in third-party cloud apps, from 5,500 to almost 160,000.

"The shift to the cloud creates a new, virtual security perimeter that includes third-party apps granted access to corporate systems," CloudLock director of customer insights and analytics Ayse Kaya-Firat said in a statement. "Today, most employees leverage a wide variety of apps to get their jobs done efficiently, unwittingly exposing corporate data and systems to malware and the possibility of data theft."

The number of third-party app installations has increased by 19 percent in the last three months alone -- the average organization's users connect 733 third-party apps to the corporate environment. In 2014, that number was 130.

More than half of third-party apps are banned due to security concerns, according to the report. The top 10 banned apps are Airbnb, CodeCombat, Free Rider HD, Madden NFL Mobile, Pinterest, Power Tools, SoundCloud, Sunrise Calendar, WhatsApp Messenger, and Zoho Accounts. The top 10 trusted apps are Asana, Hubspot, LinkedIn, Lucidchart, Quizlet, Slack, Smartsheet, Turnitin, Zendesk and Zoom.

The survey also found that 52 percent of respondents believe cloud apps can be as secure or more secure than premise-based apps, a significant jump from 40 percent of respondents a year ago. Almost 60 percent believe legacy security infrastructure is made obsolete by the use of cloud applications.

More than 50 percent of respondents believe unauthorized access is a top threat to cloud security, and 34 percent see external sharing of sensitive information as as a top threat.

The full report is at  https://go.cloudlock.com/eBook-the-explosion-of-apps-report-1-thank-you.html?aliId=9062803