70% of business leaders admitted to not being prepared for the shift to remote work. Businesses need to switch their focus from not just playing defense and blocking attacks but to the active prevention and detection of threats.
Throughout the past few months, the world has been turned upside down due to COVID-19. However, the need for cybersecurity remains. Despite the hardships that many businesses are facing, cybercriminals have not let up during this time of uncertainty. In fact, they’ve done the opposite.
According to a recent analysis published by the FBI, cybercrime reports have quadrupled since the COVID-19 outbreak.
These digital mercenaries have preyed upon the fear and confusion surrounding the pandemic by targetting the most vulnerable, so although many things have changed, the need for you to structure your business so it is protected from cybercrime remains a constant, and, we’d argue, more important than ever.
Think about it. If an in-house worker falls victim to a phishing attempt, odds are you have cybersecurity defenses built into your office network to be able to mitigate the damage that attack caused. However, since the majority of the workforce is working from home, there is no longer that layer of safety built in to protect your company.
“In effect, the protection of the network is being left in the hands of the end user,” according to Forbes.
This is the worst-case scenario.
With this in mind and the fact that 70% of business leaders admitted to not being prepared for the shift to remote work, according to Harvard Business School, businesses need to switch their focus from not just playing defense and blocking attacks but to the active prevention and detection of threats.
This is possible through a myriad of avenues such as employee cybersecurity training, advanced analytics, and detailed technology planning. The most important thing to realize is that the need for this new level of protection will not and should not end once COVID-19 does.
As Forbes states, “There is reason to believe that some workers will not return to their offices once the effects of the pandemic have subsided. The implication for cybersecurity is that this is not just a temporary storm to be weathered, but a long-lasting shift that needs permanent adaptation.”
When it comes to cybersecurity, businesses need to be preparing for not just a new, temporary normal — but a better normal that will ensure the protection of your workforce and assets.
Check out this post from Forbes for more!
