Shadow IT in Healthcare

How can ServiceNow assist in the fight?

 We live in an increasingly connected world. However with greater connectivity and access, comes greater IT and security challenges. Keeping your network safe from rogue devices is the pinnacle of  importance today, as various network-connected devices, operating at various locations throughout the country are being used by employees. This is a departure from Pre-Covid times where most access originated from one central, secure location. How do we secure our infrastructure and more importantly our data and what is Shadow IT?

Consider all the IP-connected devices on your network — PCs and laptops, VOIP phones, tablets, smartphones and more, now multiply that number by the number of employees in your organization. 

Think about how many potential entry points this presents. The greater (and wider) your network, the greater the risk that rogue devices might join the network. These devices, owned by individuals or groups inside or outside your business can wreak havoc, stealing information, disrupting network operations, and even permanently damaging systems in the process. 

For healthcare agencies, the risk is even more severe, as there is potential for sensitive patient health information to be left vulnerable. One example is the unauthorized deployment of an unsecured patient database. Prevention starts with knowledge of shadow IT devices and understanding where the confidential/protected data is within your organization.

Understanding the risks associated with a distributed IT infrastructure can help leaders make informed decisions around the processes, standards and policies that must be implemented to secure your IT infrastructure.

Using Configuration Management Databases (CMDBs) to further mature your asset management can help to identify and classify rogue or unauthorized devices and create metrics on the data to inform future management decisions. The CMDB and the configuration management governance that surround them are the core of modern IT operations – enabling the company to manage data on a diverse set of IT components in one place (even if the actual devices are widely distributed). With a holistic view of the network in place, IT departments will be better equipped to identify rogue devices, locate them in the system, and pull accurate metrics to act on security data.

Cask can help leverage a mature CMDB to apply to GRC, Change Management and other ServiceNow modules, empowering healthcare agencies to take control of their network, provide metrics to further inform business decisions, and monitor and protect the infrastructure environment you so painstakingly built.