SHADOW IT:
How Employees Using Unauthorized Apps Could Be Putting Your Business At Risk
Youremployeesmightbethebiggest cybersecurityriskinyourbusiness–andnot justbecausethey’repronetoclickphishing emailsorreusepasswords.It’sbecausethey’re usingappsyourITteamdoesn’tevenknow about.
ThisiscalledShadowIT,andit’soneofthe fastest-growingsecurityrisksforbusinesses today.Employeesdownloadanduse unauthorizedapps,softwareandcloudservices –oftenwithgoodintentions–butinreality they’recreatingmassivesecurityvulnerabilities withoutevenrealizingit.
What Is Shadow IT?
ShadowITreferstoanytechnologyused withinabusinessthathasn’tbeenapproved, vettedorsecuredbytheITdepartment.Itcan includethingslike:
Employeesusing personal Google
Drives or Dropbox accounts tostoreand shareworkdocuments.
Teamssigningupfor unapproved project management tools likeTrello,Asanaor SlackwithoutIToversight.
Workersinstalling messaging apps like WhatsApp or Telegram oncompany devicestocommunicateoutsideof official channels.
Marketingteamsusing AI content generators orautomationtoolswithout verifyingtheirsecurity.
Why Is Shadow IT So Dangerous?
BecauseITteamshavenovisibilityorcontrol overthesetools,theycan’tsecurethem–whichmeansbusinessesareexposedtoallkinds ofthreats.
Unsecured Data-Sharing –Employees usingpersonalcloudstorage,e-mail accountsormessagingappscan accidentallyleaksensitivecompany information,makingiteasierfor cybercriminalstointercept.
No Security Updates –ITdepartments regularlyupdateapprovedsoftwareto patchvulnerabilities,butunauthorizedapps oftengounchecked,leavingsystemsopen tohackers.
Compliance Violations –Ifyourbusiness fallsunderregulationslikeHIPAA,GDPR orPCI-DSS,usingunapprovedappscan leadtononcompliance,finesandlegal trouble.
Increased Phishing And Malware Risks –Employeesmightunknowingly downloadmaliciousappsthatappear legitimatebutcontainmalware or ransomware.
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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, insomecases,phishforusercredentialsand creditcardinformation.Onceinstalled,they hidtheiriconsandbombardeduserswith full-screenads,renderingdevicesnearly inoperative.Thisincidenthighlightshoweasily unauthorizedappscaninfiltratedevicesand compromisesecurity.
Butemployeescanalsouseunauthorized appsbecause:
Theyfindcompany-approvedtools frustratingoroutdated.
Theywanttoworkfasterandmore efficiently.
Theydon’trealizethesecurityrisks involved.
TheythinkITapprovaltakestoolong–so theytakeshortcuts.
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 potentialsecuritythreatsbeforetheybecomea problem.
5. Implement Strong Endpoint Security
Useendpointdetectionandresponse(EDR) solutionstotracksoftwareusage,prevent unauthorizedaccessanddetectanysuspicious activityinrealtime.
Don’t Let Shadow IT Become A Security Nightmare
ThebestwaytofightShadowITistoget aheadofitbeforeitleadstoadatabreachor compliancedisaster.
Wanttoknowwhatunauthorizedappsyour employeesareusingrightnow?Startwitha NetworkSecurityAssessmenttoidentify vulnerabilities,flagsecurityrisksandhelpyou lockdownyourbusinessbeforeit’stoolate.
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Learninghowtostepaway—andgetoutof yourownway—isoneofthebiggestlessons manyentrepreneursmustlearn.Whenyoustart abusiness,you’rerunningeverything.You’re wearingallthehats.However,inorderto grow,youhavetofacethefactthatthere’sonly somuchtimeinaday.Yousimplydon’thave timetoworkinthetrenchesandscalethe business.
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IS YOUR PRINTER THE BIGGEST SECURITY THREAT IN YOUR OFFICE?
IfIaskedyoutonamethebiggest cybersecuritythreatsinyouroffice,you’d probablysayphishinge-mails,malwareor weakpasswords.ButwhatifItoldyouthat yourofficeprinter–yes,theonequietly humminginthecorner–couldbeoneofthe biggestvulnerabilitiesinyourentirenetwork?
Itsoundsridiculous,buthackersloveprinters. Andmostbusinessesdon’trealizejusthow muchofasecurityrisktheypose–untilit’s toolate.In2020,Cybernewsranwhatthey calledthe“PrinterHackExperiment.”Outof asampleof50,000devices,theysuccessfully compromised56%oftheprinters,directing themtoprintoutasheetonprintersecurity. That’snearly28,000compromiseddevices–allbecausebusinessesoverlookedthis “harmless”pieceofofficeequipment.
Wait, WHY Target Printers?
Becauseprintersareagoldmineofsensitive data.Theyprocesseverythingfrompayroll documentsandcontractstoconfidentialclient information.Andyet,mostbusinessesleave themwide-opentoattack.
Here’swhatcanhappenwhenahackergains accesstoyourprinter:
Printers store sensitive data –Every timeyouprint,scanorcopyadocument, yourprinterkeepsadigitalcopy.Many printershavebuilt-inharddrivesthatstore years’worthofdocuments,including payrollfiles,contractsandemployee records.Ifahackergainsaccess,theycan stealorevenreprintthosefileswithout yourknowledge.
Default passwords are a hacker’s dream –Mostprinterscomewithdefaultadmin loginslike“admin/admin”or“123456.” Manybusinessesneverchangethem, makingiteasyforcybercriminalstotake control.
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 interceptdocumentsbeforetheyeven reachtheprinter.Thatmeansconfidential contracts,legaldocumentsandeven medicalrecordscouldbeexposed.
They can spy on your business –Many modernprintershavebuilt-instorageand evenscan-to-e-mailfeatures.Ifahacker compromisesyourdevice,theycan remotelyaccessscanneddocuments,emailsandstoredfiles.
Outdated firmware leaves the door wide-open –Likeanydevice,printers needsecurityupdates.Butmostbusinesses neverupdatetheirprinters’firmware, leavingthemvulnerabletoknown exploitations.
Data mining from discarded printers –Printersthatwereimproperlydisposedof canbeagoldmineforcybercriminals. Residualdatastoredondiscardedprinters canbeminedforsensitiveinformation! Thiscanresultinpotentialsecurity breaches.Printersneedtohavetheir storagewipedcleantoavoidbeing vulnerabletodatabreachesandlegal liabilities.
How To Protect Your Printers From Hackers
Nowthatyouknowprinterscanbehacked, here’swhatyouneedtodoimmediately:
1. Change The Default Password –Ifyour printerstillhasthedefaultlogincredentials,
changethemimmediately.Useastrong, uniquepasswordlikeyouwouldforyouremailorbankaccount.
2. Update Your Printer’s Firmware –Manufacturersreleasesecuritypatchesfora reason.Logintoyourprintersettingsand checkforupdatesorhaveyourITteamdo thisforyou.
3.EncryptPrintJobs–EnableSecurePrint andend-to-endencryptiontopreventhackers frominterceptingprintjobs.
4. Restrict Who Can Print –Useaccess controlssoonlyauthorizedemployeescan sendprintjobs.IfyourprintersupportsPIN codes,requirethemforsensitiveprintjobs. Youcanalsoaddaguestoption.
5. Regularly Clear Stored Data –Some printersletyoumanuallydeletestoredprint jobs.Ifyourshasaharddrive,makesureit’s encrypted,andifyoureplaceaprinter,wipe ordestroytheharddrivebeforedisposal.
6. Put Your Printer Behind A Firewall –Justlikecomputers,printersshouldbe protectedbyafirewalltoprevent unauthorizedaccess.
7. Monitor Printer Activity –IfyourIT teamisn’talreadytrackingprinterlogs,nowis thetimetostart.Unusualprintactivity, remoteaccessattemptsorunauthorizedusers printingsensitivedocumentsshouldbered flags.
Printers Aren’t Just Office Equipment – They’re Security Risks
Mostbusinessesdon’ttakeprintersecurity seriouslybecause,well,it’saprinter.But cybercriminalsknowthatbusinessesoverlook thesedevices,makingthemaneasytarget.
Ifyou’reprotectingyourcomputersbut ignoringyourprinters,you’releavingahuge holeinyourcybersecuritydefenses.