

The old saying is true: You can’t protect what you can’t see.īy definition, shadow IT falls outside the view of IT security, which increases the probability that vulnerabilities, misconfigurations and policy violations will go undetected. As organizations face an increasingly ominous threat landscape, it is important to limit risk introduced by shadow IT. Though there are many clear benefits to shadow IT, companies cannot underestimate the level of risk created by the use of unauthorized tools, applications or devices - any one of which can serve as an entry point for a cybercriminal. A positive user experience through reduction of administration and bureaucracy.Improved communication and collaboration through highly intuitive and accessible applications and platforms.Optimization of limited IT resources, including staff, through self-service of basic requests.
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While shadow IT introduces significant risk within the business, it also offers several important benefits. In this section we take a closer look at the benefits and risks of shadow IT to give organizations a better sense of what’s at stake and why IT teams need to refine processes and procedures to deliver the ease of use and speed of shadow IT without creating undue risk. But what about employees who rely on these assets to do their job and managers who turn a blind eye to such methods? Surely they see some benefit in shadow IT. Risks and Benefits of Shadow ITįrom an IT and cybersecurity perspective, shadow IT is an issue that must be managed to maintain visibility of the network and ensure its security.

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The answer to shadow IT, therefore, is not to figure out how to eliminate its use, but how to provide employees with the resources they need to meet business objectives, at speed and at scale. When a developer spawns a cloud workload using their personal credentials, they do so not as a matter of preference or out of malice, but because going through the proper internal channels may delay work and cause the entire team to miss a deadline. However, obtaining the visibility and management levels that the security teams require will often lead to setbacks and delays within the development cycle. Cloud and DevOps teams like to run fast and without friction.
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The adoption of DevOps is one major driver of the proliferation of shadow IT. This exponentially increases risk for the organization for data breaches, in particular, as well as noncompliance and other liabilities.ĭownload this new report to find out which top cloud security threats to watch for in 2022, and learn how best to address them. In the case of cloud workloads and other services used by developers, assets may contain serious vulnerabilities, such as the use of default passwords or misconfigurations. While users generally turn to shadow IT to improve the speed at which they can perform their jobs, the use of such services are unknown to the IT team and therefore not protected by the organizations’ cybersecurity solutions or protocols.

Leveraging public cloud services, such as Google Drive or Box, to store, access or share data or other assets.Using workflow or productivity apps, such as Trello or Asana.Purchasing software-as-a-service ( SaaS) applications or other cloud services subscriptions that fall below the purchasing thresholds outlined by IT.Creating cloud workloads using personal accounts or credentials.Shadow IT is the unauthorized use of any digital service or device that is not formally approved of and supported by the IT department.
