Dealing with shadow IT is a major security risk facing all types of businesses. The term shadow IT has been around for a long time, as it refers to any application or hardware being used by employees that your IT team doesn’t know about. These items can be enterprise-grade technology, but it’s often consumer tech that can expose your business to significant vulnerabilities. An IT service provider in Dallas can work with your company in taking care of this problem by limiting these risks.

Why is Shadow IT Happening?

Shadow IT often occurs due to employees being dissatisfied about using inefficient IT tools. The pandemic also forced many businesses to relax their standards by allowing employees to use personal devices at home for work-related purposes. Many employees are also unaware of IT security policies, which creates the perfect storm for workers using unapproved devices without even realizing it. Trying to determine the scale of the problem isn’t easy, as it’s nearly impossible for businesses to account for all unapproved devices without proper monitoring tools.

Risks of Shadow IT

Understanding the various risks of shadow IT is important in taking care of this problem before it gets even more severe and causes more issues. A lack of oversight from the IT team makes it too easy for data to fall into the wrong hands due to unpatched software or weak passwords. Enterprise-grade security software also can’t protect these employees, which creates a significant cybersecurity risk. Choosing to partner with an IT service provider in Dallas is essential in helping employees to meet these compliance guidelines to limit the numerous risks of shadow IT.

How to Overcome Shadow IT?

The first step in managing shadow IT is to understand the scale of the problem. Creating a detailed IT security policy that communicates approved and unapproved devices is a necessity in tackling this issue. Encouraging transparency with employees and educating them on the risks of shadow IT is also important in limiting this problem. Using monitoring tools helps identify any potential issues to help you take care of the problem before it leads to a cybersecurity incident.

Reach Out to an IT Service Provider to Learn More

Technagy offers IT services in Dallas for clients in a wide range of industries. Providing top-quality cybersecurity services and meeting the unique needs of each customer is always our main focus. Our IT team is also happy to assist you with any technical challenges and provide around-the-clock tech support. Feel free to give us a phone call or send us a message to learn more about using our managed IT services!