Shadow IT refers to those resources in use without explicit organizational oversight. They may be leveraged by a small group of employees or deployed by an entire department—but have not yet been approved of, documented, secured, and integrated into existing tech policies. The work done, and data shared, via shadow IT platforms is thus not under the IT department's jurisdiction. While it is understandable that employees gravitate towards familiar, or convenient applications, shadow IT raises considerable risks. Here are four ways to reduce Shadow IT risks:
-
Restrict access to unapproved third-party applications
-
Create a list of approved platforms and vendors for employee reference
-
Implement network monitoring to detect unknown devices and potential threats
-
Conduct regular data audits for a thorough sense of content created, shared, and stored
