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Perspectives

New Episode: Shining a Light on Shadow IT

On this episode of Focal Point ’s award-winning companion podcast, Let’s Converge , Candy Alexander, CISO and cyber practice lead at NeuEon Inc., explains the most dangerous forms of shadow IT, the ways security teams can respond, and the why – employees actually have “good intentions” when they use this unapproved tech.

Here’s a taste of the episode:

Employees are breaking the IT rules all the time, ignoring company policy and installing outside apps and services – things their IT department hasn't approved or doesn't know about. That's shadow IT. And it’s getting worse.

The surprising thing? When employees go outside corporate-approved software, they generally do so with good intentions – they just want to get their jobs done more efficiently, says NeuEon exec Candy Alexander, who develops and manages corporate security programs.

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The standard response was for security teams to act as “the department of no,” forbidding the use of certain problematic (yet necessary) apps and other software. Resist that urge, she advises. While these shadow IT uses can be risky or dangerous for the business, the goal of security teams is to understand why the employees are turning to those apps, what they’re trying to accomplish, and what their challenges are.

[LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE: Ep. 18 – Shining a Light on Shadow IT]

“[Employees are] going to install things, I promise you. Because they lose the concept that this device they were provisioned is not their device.”
Candy Alexander, CISO and cyber practic lead, NeuEon Inc.

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