If you bring up the topic of “shadow IT” to your head of IT, you will likely get a lecture about how employees need to follow protocol when using cloud cloud services so they don’t put the organization at risk. They’re not wrong. Without proper protection, unsanctioned tools can have significant consequences and unintentionally introduce security gaps.

The coronavirus pandemic forced the world’s workforce to retreat from their offices in a hurry. In that process, it proved something many of us already knew: employees can work productively without needing to be physically present or connected to the corporate network. Assisted by cloud-based productivity apps, tablets and smartphones have untethered us from the office space. At any time, I can pull out my phone and resume working via the cloud.

Productivity suites have changed the way we work

With the advent of cloud productivity platforms, tablets and smartphones have become an integral part of our work and personal lives. At any time, we are one tap away from accessing the same content as our desktop computers. In some ways, mobile devices have replaced those traditional devices as our main productivity tool. To borrow a line from a current ad campaign for tablets – “your next computer is not a computer.”

In case you missed it, Lookout just announced something that I’m super excited about – the introduction of threat hunting and research into the Lookout Security Platform. The reason this is so satisfying is because we are enabling organizations to use the same tools our security analysts have been using for years.