In today’s rapidly evolving technological landscape, employees are onboarding applications at a pace that far exceeds the ability of security teams to verify their safety. This phenomenon is called Shadow IT. This presents grave dangers to enterprises as these apps typically require permission to access sensitive company information, such as Google Drive. Adding to this complexity is the rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into these applications. It produces an environment of confusing data requirements and compliance hurdles that must be successfully negotiated.
Many organizations are finding it increasingly difficult to keep up with growing compliance demands. They have enough headaches with things like General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Service Organization Control 2 (SOC 2). Organizations don’t have visibility. Employees are using hundreds or even thousands of Software as a Service (SaaS) tools. Consequently, the data is more and more diffused among various AI tools. This fragmentation poses significant challenges for effective oversight. It calls into question the security of an organization’s entire IT infrastructure.
The Rise of AI-Driven Applications
The rapid increase in AI-powered applications has completely changed the way employees are working and engaging with technology today. These applications make procedures more efficient by integrating with one another, using OAuth tokens, API keys and third-party plug-ins. Though this automation improves productivity, it has introduced new vulnerabilities. When a niche SaaS tool that holds extensive integration capabilities is compromised, the exposure can be catastrophic.
As organizations use these innovative tools to help do their jobs, they often neglect the security risks that they can present. Employees may bypass traditional channels to onboard applications they deem necessary for their work, leaving security teams struggling to keep pace. The reckless rush to deploy these AI-driven tools opens up a world of potential harms without the right safeguards in place.
The combined forces of rapid SaaS adoption plus generative AI have left many organizations in the dust of the security innovations they used to lean on. Thus, security frameworks are now being pushed to their breaking point to try and adapt to these novel technologies. Organizations need to decide for themselves how far down the path they go with improving productivity via automation while providing for a secure configuration.
Compliance Challenges in the Age of Shadow IT
Ensuring compliance with industry regulations presents two significant challenges for organizations: first, verifying that each application is compliant and, second, maintaining environmental control over these applications. US and EU compliance frameworks such as GDPR and SOC 2 mandate that organizations deploy high levels of data protection. With an avalanche of applications adopted, compliance is harder and harder to assess.
Wing Security meets this challenge head-on by offering visibility into every application in use across an organization. It validates their adherence to industry standards such as SOC 2. This guarantees that only the most robust applications rise to the top. Beyond that, Wing is proactively policing access from third parties. This rigorous enforcement of integration policies is a key safeguard against unauthorized access to sensitive data.
Wing automatically maps each integration across the technology stack. This provides organizations with full visibility into their ever-expanding SaaS and on-prem applications that need to be connected. This holistic view enables security teams to discover the weak spots, fix them proactively, and prevent these issues from developing into major liabilities.
Proactive Measures Against Potential Threats
In order to mitigate the risks posed by Shadow IT and maintain compliance with regulatory requirements, organizations should take proactive steps. Wing Security allows organizations to proactively cut risky connections before they turn into threats. This capability has been a game changer as all organizations now realize that many potential breaches can happen through compromised applications.
Additionally, real-time visibility into third-party access helps organizations keep a tight grip on their data landscape. By implementing strict integration policies and regularly reviewing compliance statuses, organizations can mitigate the risks associated with the ever-changing landscape of SaaS and AI applications.
Aside from leveraging AI tools such as Wing Security, organizations need to create a culture of security awareness within their employees. Educate your agency staff on the purpose and benefits of third-party verified applications. By being more aware of the dangers presented by Shadow IT, organizations can greatly reduce their risk of unauthorized access and data breaches.