How Employees Using Unauthorized Apps Could Be Putting Your Business At Risk SHADOW IT: SUMMER
�� The entrepreneurial challenges we see most often (and how to get ahead of them)
�� And of course, fast, effective cybersecurity tips you can put into action today
Consider this your SPF for the digital world, keeping your business protected while you soak up the sun. ��
Youremployeesmightbethebiggestcybersecurityrisk inyourbusiness–andnotjustbecausethey’reproneto clickphishing e-mailsorreusepasswords.It’sbecause they’reusingappsyourITteamdoesn’tevenknow about.
Why Is Shadow IT So Dangerous?
BecauseITteamshavenovisibilityorcontrol overthesetools,theycan’tsecurethem–whichmeansbusinessesareexposedtoall kindsofthreats.
is
courtesy of Josiv Krstinovski President of IT Company.
“I don’t care if it costs me more money, I am going to make sure that every single client of ours has the absolute best security and solutions in place. If not, then I am not doing my job Plain and simple ”
ThisiscalledShadowIT,andit’soneofthefastestgrowingsecurityrisksforbusinessestoday.Employees downloadanduseunauthorizedapps,softwareandcloud services–oftenwithgoodintentions–butinreality they’recreatingmassivesecurityvulnerabilitieswithout evenrealizingit.
What Is Shadow IT?
ShadowITreferstoanytechnologyusedwithina businessthathasn’tbeenapproved,vettedorsecuredby theITdepartment.Itcanincludethingslike:
Employeesusing personal Google
Drives or Dropbox accounts tostoreandshare workdocuments.
Teamssigningupfor unapproved project management tools likeTrello,AsanaorSlack withoutIToversight.
Workersinstalling messaging apps like WhatsApp or Telegram oncompanydevicestocommunicate outsideof officialchannels.
Marketingteamsusing AI content generators or automationtoolswithoutverifyingtheirsecurity.
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.
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Account Hijacking –Usingunauthorized toolswithoutmultifactorauthentication (MFA)canexposeemployeecredentials, allowinghackerstogainaccessto companysystems.
Why Do Employees Use Shadow IT?
Mostofthetime,it’snotmalicious.Take,for example,the“Vapor”appscandal,anextensive adfraudschemerecentlyuncoveredbysecurity researchersIASThreatLabs.
InMarch,over300maliciousapplications werediscoveredontheGooglePlayStore, collectivelydownloadedmorethan60million times.Theseappsdisguisedthemselvesas utilitiesandhealthandlifestyletoolsbut weredesignedtodisplayintrusiveadsand,
Theywanttoworkfasterandmore efficiently.
Theydon’trealizethesecurityrisks involved
TheythinkITapprovaltakestoolong–so theytakeshortcuts
Unfortunately,theseshortcutscancostyour businessBIGwhenadatabreachhappens
HowToStopShadowITBeforeIt HurtsYourBusiness
Youcan’tstopwhatyoucan’tsee,sotackling ShadowITrequiresaproactiveapproach.
Here’showtogetstarted:
1.CreateAnApprovedSoftwareList
WorkwithyourITteamtoestablishalistof trusted,secureapplicationsemployeescanuse. Makesurethislistisregularlyupdatedwith new,approvedtools
2.RestrictUnauthorizedApp Downloads
Setupdevicepoliciesthatpreventemployees frominstallingunapprovedsoftwareon companydevicesIftheyneedatool,they shouldrequestITapprovalfirst.
3.EducateEmployeesAboutTheRisks
EmployeesneedtounderstandthatShadowIT isn’tjustaproductivityshortcut–it’sasecurity riskRegularlytrainyourteamonwhy unauthorizedappscanputthebusinessatrisk.
4.MonitorNetworkTrafficFor UnapprovedApps
ITteamsshouldusenetwork-monitoringtools todetectunauthorizedsoftwareuseandflag potentialsecuritythreatsbeforetheybecomea problem.
5.ImplementStrongEndpointSecurity Useendpointdetectionandresponse(EDR) solutionstotracksoftwareusage,prevent unauthorizedaccessanddetectanysuspicious activityinrealtime.
Don’tLetShadowITBecomeA SecurityNightmare
ThebestwaytofightShadowITistoget aheadofitbeforeitleadstoadatabreachor compliancedisaster.
Wanttoknowwhatunauthorizedappsyour employeesareusingrightnow?Startwitha NetworkSecurityAssessmenttoidentify vulnerabilities,flagsecurityrisksandhelpyou lockdownyourbusinessbeforeit’stoolate.
CARTOON OF THE MONTH CARTOON OF MONTH
Whenitcomestoentrepreneurship, sometimesyourbiggestobstacleisyou— andgettingoutofyourownwayand empoweringemployeesistherecipefor success.Hereareafewtried-and-true entrepreneurialmindsetshiftsfromother businessownersthatpushedthemcloser tosuccess.
The Biggest Entrepreneurial Challenge: Delegation
Learninghowtostepaway—andgetoutof yourownway—isoneofthebiggestlessons manyentrepreneursmustlearn.Whenyou startabusiness,you’rerunningeverything. You’rewearingallthehats.However,inorder togrow,youhavetofacethefactthatthere’s onlysomuchtimeinaday.Yousimplydon’t havetimetoworkinthetrenchesandscale thebusiness.
Hiringgood,capablepeopleandtrusting themenoughtotaketasksoffyourplateis criticaltoyourbusiness’success.Afterall,as thecompany’sleader,it’simportantto strategicallyspendyourtime—notjuststay busy.Delegatewhatyoucan,andfocuson settingthevisionandstrategiesthatwillkeep yourbusinessmovingforward.
Shaping The Culture With A Family Dynamic
Thereareafewfactorsthatarekeytoa healthycompanyculture.Anopenlineof communicationisoneofthebiggest. Listeningtowhatyourteamneeds—evenif it’sunconventional—andgivingitafairshot canmakeallthedifference.Justbesureto clarifyupfrontthatifproductivityorthe qualityofyourdeliverablesslips,it’llbe straightbacktothewaythingswerebefore.
Ifitworks,yourbusinesshasathriving newdynamic,potentiallyincreasing productivityandworkplacesatisfaction.But evenifitdoesn't,yourteamwillfeelheard, respectedandlikeyou’vegottheirbacks. Andthatmakesallthedifferencewhenit comestocreatingastrong,trust-based companyculture.
Ifyou’renotsurewheretogonext,don’t underestimatethevalueofpickingupsome booksoncreatingastrongculture.Take advicefromentrepreneurswhohavebeen there,donethatandbeginincorporatingthe ideasyoulikebestintoyourownbusiness. Afterall,ifitworkedforthem,itmightjust workforyou.
Focus On “Done”, Not “Perfect”
Fromcreatingprocessestomarketing,things arebetterdonethanperfect.Perfectionismcan seriouslyholdyouback.Instead,comeup withaplanandimplementsomething.It doesn’thavetobeexactlyright.Youcan alwaysmaketweaksalongtheway,butifyou nevertaketheleapandexecute,you’llnever getanywhere.Soputtheplanningnotebook down,andgetimplementing!
Entrepreneurshipwillneverbetheeasyroad, butwithsomeessentialshiftstoyourmindset andagreatteamaroundyou,manychallenges don’tseemquitesoinsurmountable.
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We’re beyond excited to share that KRS IT Consulting has been named one of the fastest-growing private companies in the Northeast by Inc. Magazine! ��
This recognition as part of the Inc 5000 Regionals: Northeast list is more than just a milestone it’s a reflection of the trust our clients place in us and the incredible work our team delivers every single day
Out of 150+ companies across nine states, we’re proud to represent what hard work, strong partnerships, and a shared vision can accomplish.
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IS YOUR THE BIGG SECURITY IN YOUR
IfIaskedyoutonamethebiggestcybersecurity threatsinyouroffice,you’dprobablysay phishinge-mails,malwareorweakpasswords. ButwhatifItoldyouthatyourofficeprinter–yes,theonequietlyhumminginthecorner–couldbeoneofthebiggestvulnerabilitiesin yourentirenetwork?
Itsoundsridiculous,buthackersloveprinters. Andmostbusinessesdon’trealizejusthowmuch ofasecurityrisktheypose–untilit’stoolate.In 2020,Cybernewsranwhattheycalledthe “PrinterHackExperiment.”Outofasampleof 50,000devices,theysuccessfullycompromised 56%oftheprinters,directingthemtoprintouta sheetonprintersecurity.That’snearly28,000 compromiseddevices–allbecausebusinesses overlookedthis“harmless”pieceofoffice equipment.
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-mailorbank account.
2. Update Your Printer’s Firmware –Manufacturersreleasesecuritypatchesfora reason.Logintoyourprintersettingsandcheck forupdatesorhaveyourITteamdothisforyou.
3.EncryptPrintJobs–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.
