Shadow Code remains a high security risk. Third-party scripts and open-source libraries are typically used for ad tracking, payments, customer reviews, chatbots, tag management, social media integration or other helper libraries that simplify common functions. However, the unmanaged use of Shadow Code — scripts and libraries often added without approvals or ongoing security validation — introduces hidden risks into an organization, making it challenging to avoid the risk of a data breach, ensure data privacy and comply with various privacy regulations.