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SHADOW IT:
How Employees Using Unauthorized Apps Could Be Putting Your Business At Risk
DON’T FALL FOR THIS TRAVEL SCAM
Cybercriminalsareexploitingtravelseasonby sendingfakebookingconfirmationsthatlook likelegitimatee-mailsfromairlines,hotelsand travelagencies.Thesescamsstealpersonaland financialinformationandspreadmalware.
How The Scam Works
1.AFakeBookingConfirmationLandsIn YourInbox
Appearstobefromtravelcompanieslike Expedia,DeltaorMarriott.
Usesofficiallogos,formattingandfake customersupportnumbers.
Subjectlinescreateurgency,suchas:“Your FlightItineraryHasChanged–ClickHere ForUpdates”
2.ClickingtheLinkRedirectsYouToA FakeWebsite
E-mailpromptsyoutologintoconfirm details,updatepaymentinfoordownload anitinerary.
Thelinkleadstoafraudulentwebsitethat stealsyourcredentials.
3.HackersStealYourInformation/Money
Enteringlogincredentialsgrants hackersaccesstoyourairline,hotelor financialaccounts.
Providingpaymentdetailsleadsto stolencreditcardinformationor fraudulentcharges.
Clickingmalware-infectedlinkscan compromiseyourentiredevice.
Why This Scam Works
ItLooksLegit–Usesreallogosformatting, andfamiliar-lookinglinks.
ItCreatesUrgency–“Reservationissues”or “flightchanges”causepanic,makingvictims actfast.
PeopleAreDistracted–Busytravelersoften don’tdouble-checke-mails.
It’sABusinessRiskToo–Ifemployees handlingcompanytravelfallforit,businesses facefinanciallossandsecuritybreaches.
How To Protect Yourself And Your Business
AlwaysVerifyBeforeClicking–Visit theairlineorhotel’swebsitedirectly.
CheckTheSender’sAddress–Scammers useslightlyaltereddomains(e.g.,“@delta com.com”insteadof“@delta.com”).
EducateYourTeam–Trainemployeesto recognizephishingscams.
UseMultifactorAuthentication(MFA)–Addsanextrasecuritylayer.
SecureBusinessE-mailAccounts–Blockmaliciouslinksandattachments.
Youremployeesmightbethebiggest cybersecurityriskinyourbusiness–andnot justbecausethey’repronetoclickphishing e-mailsorreusepasswords.It’sbecause they’reusingappsyourITteamdoesn’teven knowabout.
ThisiscalledShadowIT,andit’soneofthe fastest-growingsecurityrisksforbusinesses today.Employeesdownloadanduse unauthorizedapps,softwareandcloudservices –oftenwithgoodintentions–butinreality they’recreatingmassivesecurity vulnerabilitieswithoutevenrealizingit.
What Is Shadow IT?
ShadowITreferstoanytechnologyused withinabusinessthathasn’tbeenapproved, vettedorsecuredbytheITdepartment.Itcan includethingslike:
Employeesusing personal Google
Drives or Dropbox accounts tostore andshareworkdocuments.
Teamssigningupfor unapproved project management tools likeTrello, AsanaorSlackwithoutIToversight.
Workersinstalling messaging apps like WhatsApp or Telegram oncompany devicestocommunicateoutsideofofficial channels.
Marketingteamsusing AI content generators orautomationtoolswithout verifyingtheirsecurity.
Why Is Shadow IT So Dangerous?
BecauseITteamshavenovisibilityorcontrol overthesetools,theycan’tsecurethem–whichmeansbusinessesareexposedtoall kindsofthreats.
Unsecured Data-Sharing –Employees usingpersonalcloudstorage,e-mail accountsormessagingappscan accidentallyleaksensitivecompany information,makingiteasierfor cybercriminalstointercept.
No Security Updates –ITdepartments regularlyupdateapprovedsoftwareto patchvulnerabilities,butunauthorized appsoftengounchecked,leavingsystems opentohackers.
Compliance Violations –Ifyour businessfallsunderregulationslike HIPAA,GDPRorPCI-DSS,using unapprovedappscanleadto noncompliance,finesandlegaltrouble.
Increased Phishing And Malware Risks –Employeesmightunknowingly downloadmaliciousappsthatappear legitimatebutcontainmalware orransomware.
Account Hijacking –Usingunauthorized toolswithoutmultifactorauthentication (MFA)canexposeemployeecredentials, allowinghackerstogainaccessto companysystems.
Why Do Employees Use Shadow IT?
Mostofthetime,it’snotmalicious.Take,for example,the“Vapor”appscandalanextensive adfraudschemerecentlyuncoveredbysecurity researchersIASThreatLab.
InMarch,over300maliciousapplicationswere discoveredontheGooglePlayStore, collectivelydownloadedmorethan60million times.Theseappsdisguisedthemselvesas utilitiesandhealthandlifestyletoolsbutwere designedtodisplayintrusiveadsand,insome cases,phishforusercredentialsandcreditcard information.Onceinstalled,theyhidtheir iconsandbombardeduserswithfull-screen ads,renderingdevicesnearlyinoperative. Thisincidenthighlightshoweasily unauthorizedappscaninfiltratedevicesand compromisesecurity.
Butemployeescanalsouseunauthorized appsbecause:
Theyfindcompany-approvedtools frustratingoroutdated.
Theywanttoworkfasterand moreefficiently.
Theydon’trealizethesecurity risksinvolved.
TheythinkITapprovaltakestoolong–sotheytakeshortcuts.
Unfortunately,theseshortcutscancostyour businessBIGwhenadatabreachhappens.
How To Stop Shadow IT Before
It Hurts Your Business
Youcan’tstopwhatyoucan’tsee,sotackling ShadowITrequiresaproactiveapproach. Here’showtogetstarted:
1. Create An Approved Software List
WorkwithyourITteamtoestablishalistof trusted,secureapplicationsemployeescanuse.
Makesurethislistisregularlyupdatedwith new,approvedtools.
2. Restrict Unauthorized App Downloads
Setupdevicepoliciesthatpreventemployees frominstallingunapprovedsoftwareon companydevices.Iftheyneedatool,they shouldrequestITapprovalfirst.
3. Educate Employees About The Risks EmployeesneedtounderstandthatShadowIT isn’tjustaproductivityshortcut–it’sasecurity risk.Regularlytrainyourteamonwhy unauthorizedappscanputthebusinessatrisk.
4. Monitor Network Traffic For Unapproved Apps
ITteamsshouldusenetwork-monitoringtools todetectunauthorizedsoftwareuseandflag potentialsecuritythreatsbeforetheybecome aproblem.
5. Implement Strong Endpoint Security Useendpointdetectionandresponse(EDR) solutionstotracksoftwareusage,prevent unauthorizedaccessanddetectanysuspicious activityinrealtime.
IS YOUR PRINTER THE BIGGEST SECURITY THREAT IN YOUR OFFICE?
IfIaskedyoutonamethebiggestcybersecurity threatsinyouroffice,you’dprobablysay phishinge-mails,malwareorweakpasswords. ButwhatifItoldyouthatyourofficeprinter–yes,theonequietlyhumminginthecorner–couldbeoneofthebiggestvulnerabilitiesin yourentirenetwork?
aheadofitbeforeitleadstoadatabreachor compliancedisaster.
Wanttoknowwhatunauthorizedappsyour employeesareusingrightnow?Startwitha NetworkSecurityAssessmenttoidentify vulnerabilities,flagsecurityrisksandhelpyou lockdownyourbusinessbeforeit’stoolate.
Itsoundsridiculous,buthackersloveprinters. Andmostbusinessesdon’trealizejusthow muchofasecurityrisktheypose–untilit’stoo late.In2020,Cybernewsranwhattheycalled the“PrinterHackExperiment.”Outofasample of50,000devices,theysuccessfullycompromised 56%oftheprinters,directingthemtoprint outasheetonprintersecurity.That’snearly 28,000compromiseddevices–allbecause businessesoverlookedthis“harmless”pieceof officeequipment.
Wait, WHY Target Printers?
Becauseprintersareagoldmineofsensitivedata. Theyprocesseverythingfrompayrolldocuments andcontractstoconfidentialclientinformation. Andyet,mostbusinessesleavethemwide-open toattack.
Here’swhatcanhappenwhenahackergains accesstoyourprinter:
Printers store sensitive data –Everytime youprint,scanorcopyadocument,your printerkeepsadigitalcopy.Manyprinters havebuilt-inharddrivesthatstoreyears’ worthofdocuments,includingpayrollfiles, contractsandemployeerecords.Ifahacker gainsaccess,theycanstealorevenreprint thosefileswithoutyourknowledge.
Default passwords are a hacker’s dream –Mostprinterscomewithdefaultadmin loginslike“admin/admin”or“123456.” Manybusinessesneverchangethem,making iteasyforcybercriminalstotakecontrol.
They’re an open door to your network –PrintersareconnectedtoyourWiFiand companynetwork.Ifcompromised,they canbeusedasanentrypointtoinstall malwareorransomware,orstealdatafrom otherdevices.
Print jobs can be intercepted –Ifyour printjobsaren’tencrypted,hackerscan interceptdocumentsbeforetheyevenreach theprinter.Thatmeansconfidential contracts,legaldocumentsandevenmedical recordscouldbeexposed.
They can spy on your business –Many modernprintershavebuilt-instorageand evenscan-to-e-mailfeatures.Ifahacker compromisesyourdevice,theycanremotely accessscanneddocuments,e-mailsand storedfiles.
Outdated firmware leaves the door wideopen –Likeanydevice,printersneed securityupdates.Butmostbusinessesnever updatetheirprinters’firmware,leavingthem vulnerabletoknownexploitations.
Data mining from discarded printers –Printersthatwereimproperlydisposedofcan beagoldmineforcybercriminals.Residual datastoredondiscardedprinterscanbe minedforsensitiveinformation!Thiscan resultinpotentialsecuritybreaches.Printers needtohavetheirstoragewipedcleanto avoidbeingvulnerabletodatabreachesand legalliabilities.
How To Protect Your Printers From Hackers
Nowthatyouknowprinterscanbehacked, here’swhatyouneedtodoimmediately:
1. Change The Default Password –Ifyour printerstillhasthedefaultlogincredentials,
changethemimmediately.Useastrong,unique passwordlikeyouwouldforyoure-mailor bankaccount.
2. Update Your Printer’s Firmware –Manufacturersreleasesecuritypatchesfora reason.Logintoyourprintersettingsandcheck forupdatesorhaveyourITteamdothisforyou.
3. Encrypt Print Jobs –EnableSecurePrintand end-to-endencryptiontopreventhackersfrom interceptingprintjobs.
4. Restrict Who Can Print –Useaccess controlssoonlyauthorizedemployeescansend printjobs.IfyourprintersupportsPINcodes, requirethemforsensitiveprintjobs.Youcan alsoaddaguestoption.
5. Regularly Clear Stored Data –Someprinters letyoumanuallydeletestoredprintjobs.Ifyours hasaharddrive,makesureit’sencrypted,andif youreplaceaprinter,wipeordestroythehard drivebeforedisposal.
6. Put Your Printer Behind A Firewall –Just likecomputers,printersshouldbeprotectedbya firewalltopreventunauthorizedaccess.
7. Monitor Printer Activity –IfyourITteam isn’talreadytrackingprinterlogs,nowisthe timetostart.Unusualprintactivity,remote accessattemptsorunauthorizedusersprinting sensitivedocumentsshouldberedflags.
Printers Aren’t Just Office Equipment – They’re Security Risks
Mostbusinessesdon’ttakeprintersecurity seriouslybecause,well,it’saprinter.But cybercriminalsknowthatbusinessesoverlook thesedevices,makingthemaneasytarget.
Ifyou’reprotectingyourcomputersbutignoring yourprinters,you’releavingahugeholeinyour cybersecuritydefenses.