Shadow IT: It’s time to reign in the rogues

Shadow IT (also known as rogue, or stealth IT) is hardware and software that is used within an organization without explicit approval from management.  

The guilty parties fuelling the rapid proliferation of Shadow IT are less roguish than you might imagine however and include everyone; from C-suite executives at the pinnacle of an organization, to new interns uploading their first notes on Google Drive. 

Downloading cloud services has never been easier, plus more devices than ever are being used to house the extensive pick-a-mix of solutions and tools, including smartphones, tablets, and even smartwatches. What’s worrying for company Chief Information Officers is that many of these devices, used for both personal and business use, are connecting to corporate networks. More painful still is the fact it’s the apps that are designed to increase productivity that are especially vulnerable, reports Cisco. Of the 900 organizations the technology conglomerate surveyed, 27% of the apps being used were classified as ‘high risk’. 

• Protect your devices with the best antivirus
• Keep your endpoints safe from growing cyber threats with the best endpoint protection
• Browse the web securely on the go with the best VPN

“Most users don’t realise or expect professional tools to be a target for cyber-criminals, however these apps often demand quite a lot of information and frequently require email accounts to work. This makes them the perfect vector for security breaches,” explains Mark Adams, Chief Customer Officer at cloud enterprise software company, Cloudmore.  

Research group Gartner estimates that by next year (2020