Among the many cybersecurity concerns organizations face, shadow IT presents a grim challenge. Shadow IT happens when end users download applications without the organization’s knowledge or permission. The subsequent “shadow data” produced in these applications creates a tempting target for threat actors. IBM reports that one in three breaches they studied involved shadow data.
Since they go under IT’s radar, shadow IT and data are increasingly difficult to stop. Using an Endpoint Security solution like Todyl’s, however, organizations can reduce the effects of shadow IT tremendously. Here’s why shadow IT presents such an issue and how Endpoint Security and Trusted Applications lists can help prevent it.
If they can, end users will likely download and use non-approved applications (e.g. freeware, games, pirated software, etc.). Regardless of whether they are pertinent to work, these applications can have serious security ramifications.
The first of these are malicious applications. Bad actors can disguise their payloads as legitimate applications or inject shellcode into known apps. When downloaded, these apps can install malware or in-memory threats onto a device.
Because IT is unaware of the apps, they may also miss the intrusion without the right security tooling. Attackers could go days without detection, giving them opportunities to establish persistence or proliferate throughout the rest of the organization.
As mentioned above, shadow data is another shadow IT security concern. An application downloaded without IT’s approval may fall victim to an attack. The bad actor can then exfiltrate organizational data stored within that app. Given that this data could range anywhere from intellectual property to customer and financial information, the fallout can be devastating.
Then, when it comes to remediation and disclosure, IT has no idea that the data has been exploited. This visibility gap leaves data at risk and leads to further security and compliance concerns down the road.
Per IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report, linked above, shadow data breaches cost $5.27M on average. That’s almost 10% more than the average breach. On top of that, shadow data breaches took an average of 220 days to identify, over 25% longer than the average breach.
Understanding the gravity of shadow IT, Todyl Endpoint Security offers a solution to help bring it to light and reduce its effects. Endpoint Security consolidates endpoint detection and response (EDR) capabilities with next-gen antivirus (NGAV) to provide comprehensive security for workstations, devices, and systems. By combining observability with proactive defense strategies, Endpoint Security helps solve the shadow IT issue.
Through EDR, Endpoint Security gathers and records pertinent system information and data logs. With hundreds of prebuilt and continuously tuned detection rules, Endpoint Security analyzes system data to uncover when applications are downloaded onto a system. This visibility keeps IT aware of applications, even if the user did not get approval first.
Then, if the downloaded application leads to any additional security issues, Endpoint Security can also detect the artifacts of bad actors. This even includes in-memory threats, which generally do not leave the same artifacts as malware or ransomware. Combined with NGAV, Endpoint Security can actively stop these threats upon detection, preventing after-effects such as spread or persistence.
Another feature of Endpoint Security is the Trusted Application list. Admins use this feature to establish which application sources and paths are allowed to be executed on a device. Subsequently, specific applications can also be blocked via the Application Blocklist.
Using this feature helps admins combat shadow IT through preemptive preventative measures. By establishing which applications are allowed, organizations can stop users from downloading unauthorized applications with malicious sources and paths.
In the face of unknown dangers due to shadow IT, admins using Todyl Endpoint Security can proactively protect their organization and uncover potential threats. To learn more about how Endpoint Security works, contact us. You can see these and all the other capabilities of the Todyl Security Platform in a free demo.
