WITH EMPLOYEES increasingly using cloud computing services at work, often without official sanction, the problem of digital blind spots is growing for employers and posing new risks for their IT and legal departments according to Irish digital evidence company, Cernam.

To address this, Cernam has developed “Watson” a new, free software tool that enables legal and IT professionals to easily determine if potentially problematic cloud services are being used within a corporate network. Running Watson requires no special access to servers or networks. It provides an initial assessment of cloud usage within companies which can later be improved by deeper analysis to identify specific users and the nature of data being stored in the cloud.

“Cloud services offer tremendous productivity benefits, but they also present new challenges. For organisations relying on digital evidence in litigation, investigations or disciplinary matters, the cloud potentially reduces visibility and control around corporate records,” said Owen OConnor founder of Cernam, which is based at Nova, UCD’s Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre.