Shadow IT | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

As SaaS and cloud-native work reshape the enterprise, the web browser has emerged as the new endpoint. However, unlike endpoints, browsers remain mostly unmonitored, despite being responsible for more than 70% of modern malware attacks . Keep Aware's recent State of Browser Security report highlights major concerns security leaders face with employees using the web browser for most of their work. The reality is that traditional security tools are blind to what happens within the browser , and attackers know it. Key Findings: 70% of phishing campaigns impersonate Microsoft, OneDrive, or Office 365 to exploit user trust. 150+ trusted platforms like Google Docs and Dropbox are being abused to host phishing and exfiltrate data. 10% of AI prompts involve sensitive business content, posing risks across thousands of browser-based AI tools. 34% of file uploads on company devices go to personal accounts, often undetected. New Attack Patterns Bypass Traditional Defenses From phis...

Your employees didn't mean to expose sensitive data. They just wanted to move faster. So they used ChatGPT to summarize a deal. Uploaded a spreadsheet to an AI-enhanced tool. Integrated a chatbot into Salesforce. No big deal—until it is. If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. Most security teams are already behind in detecting how AI tools are quietly reshaping their SaaS environments. And by the time an alert is triggered—if it even exists—damage may already be done. This Isn't a Hypothetical Problem. It's Happening Now. AI adoption inside organizations is no longer strategic. It's spontaneous. Employees are experimenting, connecting, automating—and bypassing security while doing it. AI systems are becoming embedded in your SaaS stack without visibility or oversight. And it's creating a new class of shadow integrations—ones that don't show up in traditional threat models. If your current defenses rely on manual tracking, policy enforcement, or user education alone, you'r...

Intro: Why hack in when you can log in? SaaS applications are the backbone of modern organizations, powering productivity and operational efficiency. But every new app introduces critical security risks through app integrations and multiple users, creating easy access points for threat actors. As a result, SaaS breaches have increased, and according to a May 2024 XM Cyber report, identity and credential misconfigurations caused 80% of security exposures. Subtle signs of a compromise get lost in the noise, and then multi-stage attacks unfold undetected due to siloed solutions. Think of an account takeover in Entra ID, then privilege escalation in GitHub, along with data exfiltration from Slack. Each seems unrelated when viewed in isolation, but in a connected timeline of events, it's a dangerous breach. Wing Security's SaaS platform is a multi-layered solution that combines posture management with real-time identity threat detection and response. This allows organizations to get a ...

Whether it's CRMs, project management tools, payment processors, or lead management tools - your workforce is using SaaS applications by the pound. Organizations often rely on traditional CASB solutions for protecting against malicious access and data exfiltration, but these fall short for protecting against shadow SaaS, data damage, and more. A new report, Understanding SaaS Security Risks: Why CASB Solutions Fail to Cover 'Shadow' SaaS and SaaS Governance , highlighting the pressing security challenges faced by enterprises using SaaS applications. The research underscores the growing inefficacy of traditional CASB solutions and introduces a revolutionary browser-based approach to SaaS security that ensures full visibility and real-time protection against threats. Below, we bring the main highlights of the report. Read the full report here . Why Enterprises Need SaaS Security - The Risks of SaaS SaaS applications have become the backbone of modern enterprises, but security teams ...

Identity-based attacks are on the rise. Attackers are targeting identities with compromised credentials, hijacked authentication methods, and misused privileges. While many threat detection solutions focus on cloud, endpoint, and network threats, they overlook the unique risks posed by SaaS identity ecosystems. This blind spot is wreaking havoc on heavily SaaS-reliant organizations big and small. The question is, what can security teams do about it? Have no fear, because Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) is here to save the day. It's essential to have the visibility and response mechanisms to stop attacks before they become breaches. Here's the super lineup that every team needs to stop SaaS identity threats. #1 Full coverage: cover every angle  Like Cap's shield, this defense should cover every angle. Traditional threat detection tools such as XDRs and EDRs fail to cover SaaS applications and leave organizations vulnerable. SaaS identity threat detection and re...

Organizations are either already adopting GenAI solutions, evaluating strategies for integrating these tools into their business plans, or both. To drive informed decision-making and effective planning, the availability of hard data is essential—yet such data remains surprisingly scarce. The " Enterprise GenAI Data Security Report 2025 " by LayerX delivers unprecedented insights into the practical application of AI tools in the workplace, while highlighting critical vulnerabilities. Drawing on real-world telemetry from LayerX's enterprise clients, this report is one of the few reliable sources that details actual employee use of GenAI. For instance, it reveals that nearly 90% of enterprise AI usage occurs outside the visibility of IT, exposing organizations to significant risks such as data leakage and unauthorized access. Below we bring some of the report's key findings. Read the full report to refine and enhance your security strategies, leverage data...

In 2024, cyber threats targeting SaaS surged, with 7,000 password attacks blocked per second (just in Entra ID)—a 75% increase from last year—and phishing attempts up by 58%, causing $3.5 billion in losses (source: Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2024 ). SaaS attacks are increasing, with hackers often evading detection through legitimate usage patterns. The cyber threat arena saw standout players, unexpected underdogs, and relentless scorers leaving their mark on the SaaS security playing field.  As we enter 2025, security teams must prioritize SaaS security risk assessments to uncover vulnerabilities, adopt SSPM tools for continuous monitoring, and proactively defend their systems. Here are the Cyber Threat All-Stars to watch out for—the MVPs, rising stars, and master strategists who shaped the game. 1. ShinyHunters: The Most Valuable Player Playstyle: Precision Shots (Cybercriminal Organization) Biggest Wins: Snowflake, Ticketmaster and Authy Notable Drama: Exploited on...

SaaS services are one of the biggest drivers of OpEx (operating expenses) for modern businesses. With Gartner projecting $247.2 billion in global SaaS spending this year , it's no wonder SaaS budgets are a big deal in the world of finance and IT. Efficient SaaS utilization can significantly affect both the bottom line and employee productivity.  In this article, we'll break down this topic that sits at the intersection of finance and IT and walk through what SaaS budget planning is, why it matters, and how you can avoid common SaaS budgeting mistakes. Are you planning Your 2025 Budget? You're likely wasting 25% of your SaaS spend—ready to reclaim it? Start a FREE 14-Day SaaS Management Trial and Save 25% of Your 2025 SaaS Spend. What is SaaS budget planning? SaaS budget planning is the process of creating budget plans for SaaS expenses within an organization. The process typically involves collaboration between finance, IT, and SaaS application owners.  On the surface, ...

As technology adoption has shifted to be employee-led, just in time, and from any location or device, IT and security teams have found themselves contending with an ever-sprawling SaaS attack surface, much of which is often unknown or unmanaged. This greatly increases the risk of identity-based threats, and according to a recent report from CrowdStrike, 80% of breaches today use compromised identities, including cloud and SaaS credentials. Given this reality, IT security leaders need practical and effective  SaaS security solutions  designed to discover and manage their expanding SaaS footprint. Here are 5 key ways Nudge Security can help. Close the visibility gap Knowing the full scope of SaaS apps in use is the foundation of a modern IT governance program. Without an understanding of your entire SaaS footprint, you cannot say with confidence where your corporate IP is stored (Did someone sync their desktop to Dropbox?), you cannot make assumptions about your customer da...

Shadow apps, a segment of Shadow IT, are SaaS applications purchased without the knowledge of the security team. While these applications may be legitimate, they operate within the blind spots of the corporate security team and expose the company to attackers.  Shadow apps may include instances of software that the company is already using. For example, a dev team may onboard their own instance of GitHub to keep their work separate from other developers. They might justify the purchase by noting that GitHub is an approved application, as it is already in use by other teams. However, since the new instance is used outside of the security team's view, it lacks governance. It may store sensitive corporate data and not have essential protections like MFA enabled, SSO enforced, or it could suffer from weak access controls. These misconfigurations can easily lead to risks like stolen source code and other issues. Types of Shadow Apps  Shadow apps can be categorized based on thei...

Designed to be more than a one-time assessment— Wing Security's SaaS Pulse provides organizations with actionable insights and continuous oversight into their SaaS security posture—and it's free! Introducing SaaS Pulse: Free Continuous SaaS Risk Management  Just like waiting for a medical issue to become critical before seeing a doctor, organizations can't afford to overlook the constantly evolving risks in their SaaS ecosystems. New SaaS apps, shifting permissions, and emerging threats mean risks are always in motion. SaaS Pulse makes it easy to treat SaaS risk management as an ongoing practice, not just an occasional check-up. Security teams instantly get a real-time security "health" score, prioritized risks, contextualized threat insights, and the organization's app inventory—without setups or integrations. SaaS is a Moving Target SaaS stacks don't stand still. Business critical apps can easily slip into a state of vulnerability (i.e. supply chain attacks, account takeo...