Stop shadow IT before it becomes your next breach.
Unsanctioned SaaS, rogue AI tools, personal cloud storage, and browser extensions quietly move company data outside your controls. Estimate your exposure in 30 seconds, then see how we lock it down.
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- Users can install unsanctioned softwareNIST CM-11 · CIS 2.3
- Remote workers signing up for personal cloud storageNIST AC-20 · HIPAA §164.308(a)(4)
- Unapproved AI and browser extensions handling company dataNIST CM-7 · CIS 4.8
Estimates use industry SaaS discovery benchmarks. A formal discovery is required for engineering recommendations.
From invisible sprawl to a governed estate
Two sides of the same environment. One is what most mid-market companies actually run today. The other is what a 60-day rollout with us looks like.
Every user is their own IT department
- Free-tier SaaS sign-ups on corp email
- AI chatbots holding contract text and PHI
- Personal OneDrive & Dropbox syncing folders
- Local admin everywhere, portable apps run wild
- Browser extensions read every SaaS session
- No inventory, no offboarding, no evidence
One approved path, everything else denied
- Every SaaS discovered, owned, and SSO-gated
- Sanctioned AI tenant with logged prompts
- Company data can only land in managed storage
- Zero standing admins, JIT elevation on request
- Extensions allowlisted per role, audited monthly
- Live inventory + mapped compliance evidence
What shadow IT actually looks like in 2026
It is rarely one obvious app. It is a hundred small sign-ups, browser extensions, and personal cloud accounts that collectively hold more of your data than your sanctioned stack.
Unsanctioned SaaS
Free-tier sign-ups on corporate email for design, project management, note-taking, and AI writing tools. No SSO, no logs, no offboarding.
Rogue AI tools
Employees pasting contracts, source code, and PHI into consumer AI chatbots. Prompt history becomes an uncontrolled data store outside your tenant.
Personal cloud storage
Personal Google Drive, iCloud, and Dropbox accounts syncing company folders so people can 'work from home'.
Browser extensions
Grammar helpers, PDF converters, and screen recorders with full read access to every SaaS app your users log into.
Unmanaged installers
Portable apps, remote-support tools, and open-source utilities installed by users with local admin rights.
Vendor and contractor tools
Contractors bringing their own file-sharing and screen-share platforms into your environment for convenience.
Six layers that shut shadow IT down
No single tool solves shadow IT. We combine default-deny endpoint control with identity, SaaS discovery, and egress filtering so unsanctioned tools cannot install, execute, or exfiltrate.
Application Allowlisting
Default-deny with ThreatLocker. Only approved software and scripts execute. Unknown installers, portable apps, and rogue AI tools are blocked before they ever run.
Elevation Control
Local admin rights are removed. Users get just-in-time elevation for specific approved actions, scoped by policy and logged for audit. No standing local admins anywhere.
Ringfencing
Approved apps are contained. Office cannot spawn PowerShell. Browsers cannot touch the file share. Legitimate tools stop being ransomware delivery vehicles.
Storage Control
USB, external drives, and unmanaged cloud sync targets are blocked or read-only. Personal OneDrive, Dropbox, and Drive accounts cannot receive company data.
SaaS & Browser Discovery
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps and Entra ID surface every SaaS sign-up, OAuth grant, and risky browser extension. Unsanctioned apps get sanctioned, replaced, or blocked.
Egress & DNS Filtering
DNS and network egress policies block known shadow SaaS categories, unauthorized AI endpoints, and personal file-sharing domains without hurting productivity.
Discover, baseline, enforce, report
A phased rollout that gets to enforcement without breaking your users.
Discover
SaaS discovery, browser extension inventory, endpoint software audit, and OAuth consent review. We show you every unsanctioned app in use.
Baseline
Run allowlisting and elevation control in learning mode. Classify what is legitimate, what needs a sanctioned alternative, and what gets blocked.
Enforce
Flip to default-deny. Remove local admin. Turn on ringfencing, storage control, and DNS policies with a fast approval workflow for exceptions.
Report
Monthly executive report with blocked installs, exception activity, SaaS spend recovered, and mapped compliance evidence for auditors.
Every layer maps to a control auditors ask for
Shadow IT questions, answered
Layers that reinforce shadow IT prevention
Application Allowlisting
Default-deny app control with ThreatLocker. The engine behind shadow IT prevention.
Privileged Access Management
Remove standing admin rights and broker every privileged session.
Endpoint Protection
Modern endpoint defense that pairs with allowlisting for defense in depth.
Cloud Security
Identity, posture, and SaaS governance across Microsoft 365 and Azure.
Ready to see your shadow IT footprint?
30 minutes with our sales or support team. We will run a discovery, map what is sanctioned versus unsanctioned, and show you the fastest path to default-deny.