Top tips is a weekly column where we highlight what’s trending in the tech world today and list ways to explore these trends. This week, we’re going over four ways to minimize shadow IT within your organization.
IT is the backbone of every modern enterprise, but managing it effectively requires full visibility into all users, devices, and activity—both inside and outside your infrastructure. That’s easier said than done in today’s cloud-driven world, where users and devices are constantly connecting to external apps and environments that can hinder your IT team’s monitoring capabilities.
This can lead to unauthorized use of hardware and software without your IT team’s knowledge. This is known as shadow IT, and is something organizations must seek to minimize as much as possible.
Shadow IT poses serious security risks, as unauthorized apps and devices aren’t subject to IT controls and organizational security policies. This often leads to compliance issues, operational inefficiencies, and potential data loss, since IT teams have no visibility or control over these unapproved tools. So how is your IT team supposed to go about illuminating the darkest recesses of your shadow IT? Let’s find out.
1. Implement stricter monitoring policies
Consider using robust endpoint management software with application control capabilities. This can allow you to blocklist certain problematic software, ensuring it cannot be used on a device enrolled on the management platform. Make sure to also perform regular software and asset audits, which can ensure total visibility into the hardware and software being used in your organization. Regular audits are an effective way to detect unsanctioned use of applications or devices.
2. Use a cloud access security broker (CASB)
The prevalence of cloud-based applications and services highlights the need for greater monitoring and security controls. This is because the ease of accessibility for most cloud environments intrinsically lends itself to the creation of shadow IT, and this is where cloud access security brokers, or CASBs, come in.
A CASB is software that acts as an intermediary between a cloud service user and provider. It allows you to monitor and control access to these services. CASBs also enable you to enforce security policies with regards to the use of these cloud services. CASBs play an indispensable role in managing shadow IT in today’s cloud computing age.
3. Provide secure alternatives to commonly used products
The main reason shadow IT even exists is because of its convenience. It’s just easier to go to the app store and install an application that is suited for the task at hand. A particular employee may feel that this third-party application does a better job than an app that’s recommended by the organization. In such cases, it’s necessary for your IT team to do some research into safer alternatives to these applications with the same level of functionality that can be aligned with your security policies. It’s always beneficial to all parties involved when your policies are dynamic and flexible.
4. Conduct education and awareness programs on shadow IT
While not a surefire way to prevent the use of unauthorized resources or assets, having a workforce that is informed and aware of the risks of shadow IT can minimize the prevalence of unsanctioned resources. It is also important to educate the workforce about the right channels and approval flows where the installation of new applications or new asset requests are concerned. Combine this with stricter asset and software installation controls, and this can help you greatly minimize shadow IT within your organization.
Dispelling the darkness
Being able to monitor and exert control over every single aspect of your IT environment is the only real way to ensure its security and robustness. The very existence of shadow IT in your environment, regardless of what direct impact it has, undermines your control over it. What’s more, if left unchecked, shadow IT can become a major security blind spot for your organization.
While it’s nearly impossible to eliminate shadow IT from your organization, you certainly can take steps to minimize and manage it, which can greatly strengthen your security posture in an age where threats lurk around every corner.
