May 25, 2025
Your employees might pose the greatest cybersecurity risk to your business, and not just because they click on phishing emails or reuse passwords. The real issue is that they are using apps your IT team is unaware of.
This phenomenon is known as Shadow IT, and it represents one of the fastest-growing security threats to businesses today. Employees often download and use unauthorized apps, software, and cloud services with good intentions, but in doing so, they inadvertently create significant security vulnerabilities.
What Is Shadow IT?
Shadow IT refers to any technology used within a business that has not been approved, vetted, or secured by the IT department. Examples include employees using personal Google Drive or Dropbox accounts to store and share work documents, teams signing up for unapproved project management tools like Trello, Asana, or Slack without IT oversight, workers installing messaging apps such as WhatsApp or Telegram on company devices to communicate outside official channels, and marketing teams using AI content generators or automation tools without verifying their security.
Why Is Shadow IT So Dangerous?
Since IT teams have no visibility or control over these tools, they cannot secure them, leaving businesses exposed to various threats. These include unsecured data sharing, where employees using personal cloud storage, email accounts, or messaging apps can accidentally leak sensitive company information, making it easier for cybercriminals to intercept data. Unauthorized apps often miss security updates that IT departments regularly apply to approved software, leaving systems vulnerable to hackers. Using unapproved apps can also cause compliance violations with regulations like HIPAA, GDPR, or PCI-DSS, leading to fines and legal issues. Additionally, employees might unknowingly download malicious apps that appear legitimate but contain malware or ransomware. Finally, using unauthorized tools without multifactor authentication (MFA) can expose employee credentials, allowing hackers to access company systems.
Why Do Employees Use Shadow IT?
Most of the time, employees do not intend harm. A recent example is the "Vapor" app scandal, an extensive ad fraud scheme uncovered by IAS Threat Labs. In March, over 300 malicious applications were found on the Google Play Store, collectively downloaded more than 60 million times. These apps disguised themselves as utilities and health tools but were designed to display intrusive ads and sometimes phish for user credentials and credit card information. Once installed, they hid their icons and bombarded users with full-screen ads, making devices nearly unusable. This incident shows how easily unauthorized apps can infiltrate devices and compromise security.
Employees also use unauthorized apps because they find company-approved tools frustrating or outdated, want to work faster and more efficiently, do not realize the security risks, or believe IT approval takes too long, so they take shortcuts. Unfortunately, these shortcuts can lead to costly data breaches.
How To Stop Shadow IT Before It Hurts Your Business
You cannot stop what you cannot see, so addressing Shadow IT requires a proactive approach. Start by creating an approved software list with your IT team, ensuring it is regularly updated with trusted, secure applications employees can use. Restrict unauthorized app downloads by setting device policies that prevent employees from installing unapproved software on company devices; they should request IT approval first if they need a tool. Educate employees about the risks by regularly training them on why unauthorized apps pose security threats. Monitor network traffic for unapproved apps using network-monitoring tools to detect unauthorized software use and flag potential security threats early. Finally, implement strong endpoint security by using endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to track software usage, prevent unauthorized access, and detect suspicious activity in real time.
Don't Let Shadow IT Become A Security Nightmare
The best way to combat Shadow IT is to stay ahead of it before it causes a data breach or compliance disaster.
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