Shadow AI in an Alert? What a Security Analyst Should Do Next

👉 Need help with your IT or cybersecurity career? Work with me: https://professorsimon.com/guidance If you are working an alert and an AI tool you have never heard of shows up, what do you do? This video gives early-career security analysts and IT professionals moving into security a calm, practical way to handle possible shadow AI without overstepping: notice, document, escalate. I am not asking you to go looking for AI tools. This is about what to do when one turns up during your normal, authorized work, whether in an alert, a log entry, a ticket or a conversation. The example, an alert about a file upload to an AI summarization site, is made up, and I leave the ending open on purpose. The example in this video is made up and does not describe any real person, organization or system. What you'll learn: • How to notice what an alert actually shows, and why an unfamiliar AI tool is not automatically prohibited or dangerous • How to separate what you know, what you don't know and what you are assuming • How to check the context you can reach, such as whether the tool is on your organization's approved list and whether it shows up in other alerts • What to write down so someone else can use your notes, and what not to copy into them • How to escalate to someone who can decide, and what a good message covers • How to prepare before the next unfamiliar AI tool shows up CHAPTERS 0:00 Shadow AI: What to Do When You Find It 0:51 Example: A File Upload to an AI Tool 1:28 Notice: What Do You Actually Know? 2:43 Check the Context: Is the AI Tool Approved? 3:32 Document: Write Notes Someone Else Can Use 4:41 Escalate: Who Should You Hand It To? 5:14 How to Write an Escalation Message 6:45 Possible Outcomes and How to Prepare for Next Time 📝 Companion Blog Post: https://professorsimon.com/blog/shado... 🎧 Listen to the Podcast on Spotify: https://professorsimon.com/podcast 🔗 Resources, blog & more: https://professorsimon.com/links 💼 LinkedIn:   / leonardsimon   📸 IG / 🐦 X / 🎵 TikTok: @profsimononline If you found this helpful, subscribe for practical IT and cybersecurity lessons every week. #ShadowAI #SecurityAnalyst #CybersecurityCareers