Mitigate the Two Biggest Risks of Shadow IT with Web Security

Shadow IT is the name given to applications and services that aren’t officially sanctioned for use within a company, but are still used by teams and individuals. 

While shadow IT can pose a significant risk for all organizations, we should avoid deploying draconian policies that force people to work in very rigid ways with limited tools.

In fact, it’s our responsibility as business and security leaders to identify the trade-offs with using various tools and services and balance those against the organization’s specific risk tolerance. In certain high-security environments we may very well need highly restrictive access policies for unsanctioned web services, but for most organizations there is more to be gained from allowing controlled usage of various online services. 

If that’s the case, then the question then becomes: what is the most effective way to implement the right amount of control to mitigate the biggest risks and enable work to flow unimpeded? 

To answer that, we need to take stock of the risks with using Shadow IT, then we can identify if we have any tools in place already to help address these risks.

The Top Two Shadow IT Security Risks

The biggest risk for modern business is data theft. Shadow IT can increase the risk of data theft because these web resources are not managed by the organization so it can be nearly impossible to control what kind of data is being stored in or downloaded from shadow IT applications, which can also lead to potential malware exposure. The costs to your business from these risks exceed the monetary fines too. Customers and partners expect your business processes to be secure and failure here can erode trust in your business.

Organizations should identify the common types of data different groups use and establish policies around which types of data are allowed to be saved in applications that are managed by IT versus those allowed to be used in shadow IT applications. 

Mitigating Shadow IT Security Risks with your Secure Web Gateway

The good news is that most organizations have some kind of web security solution in place, and these can typically be used to generate shadow IT reports, showing all the various applications in use across the enterprise and by which users and groups. 

One of the main functions of a specific type of web security solution called a Secure Web Gateway (SWG) is to unencrypt web traffic and scan for malware and sensitive data before re-encrypting and passing the traffic on to its destination. 

If your organization is not using a SWG, it may be worthwhile to investigate the trade-offs in using a one to help mitigate the largest risks every business faces: data theft and malware.

Talk to an expert today to see how Forcepoint ONE Web Security can protect your business while enabling controlled use of shadow IT.