It’s impossible to identify all the changes the world has experienced since the beginning of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. World governments are crumbling, travel outside of the country is almost unheard of and entire economies are imploding. That being said, however, with great change always comes great innovation and resilience. The world and it’s people will bounce back stronger and tougher than ever before, new jobs, governments and ways to do things will come and move us all forwards.
When it comes to IT security, however, changes has already arrived in five major ways:
1. Mass Migrations to Work From Home Requiring Digital Empathy
One of the largest migrations of workforce happened in the beginning of 2020 with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic from a centralized office to remote work from home. With that change, came the need for digital empathy in regards to cybersecurity. Improving the user’s experience and productivity while working remotely was reported as the most appreciated action by staff and was therefore made the top priority for their managers and IT businesses around the world.
2. The Importance of Data Collection
Unfortunately, scammers and hackers often take advantage of innocent people during times of global turmoil and panic. For IT professionals, the recent uptick in recent phishing attacks have make data collection an essential method to protect businesses from future cyber security threats and neutralize current threats as they happen.
3. Zero Trust Security Strategies
Possibly the largest and most important shift in the COVID-19 landscape is the adoption of Zero Trust policy when it comes to cybersecurity. As Charlie Gero, CTO of Enterprise and Advanced Projects Group at Akamai Technologies in Cambridge, Mass states, “The strategy around [a] Zero Trust [strategy] boils down to [not] trust[ing] anyone. Don’t allow access to IP addresses, machines, etc, until [it’s] know[n] who that user is and whether they’re authorized.” This hard stance is set to become the new industry standard as the mass shift towards online work platforms moved faster than the respective security solutions have had time to innovate.
The Cloud is Paramount
Cloud resources for document storage, productivity tools, management software and more have become a requirement for most business looking to continue under the workplace restrictions imposed by COVID-19. Because of this, the market has seen a large investment by many businesses into integrated cloud security solutions.
Importance of Resiliency
With the migration to remote work locations and the establishment of secure online workflows, resiliency of local businesses and their owners becomes key. Regular evaluation and documentation of your business’ current cybersecurity outlook with metrics for potential risks, mitigated attacks, successful attacks, and any potential future security investments will ensure you and your team are prepared for any attacks that may arise.
Contact us at Resilient IT to make sure your business is set up for success during the pandemic and will continue to be protected well into the future.
