COVID-19 has accelerated a variety of global trends. Some of these are perhaps ultimately good, for example moves towards more investment in AI and automation, or a growing focus on taking this opportunity to making lasting changes to benefit the environment. Many others are, however, quite concerning. Continued threats to the global order, the likelihood of states testing the resolve of the new U.S. administration, and increasingly polarized populations are all factors that will dominate 2021.
As organizations bring their employees back to the workplace, many are looking to leverage location technology as a means to increase safety. Return-to-work solutions ranging from digital contact tracing and social distancing monitoring to sanitation alerts and occupancy analytics are being explored and embraced in varying degrees around the world. However, it’s imperative that any technology deployed works a double shift to also provide value in the post-pandemic times. The same location technology infrastructure used to address infection prevention and mitigation can be used to complement and enhance traditional security efforts.
Despite their preference for remote work, Millennials and Gen Zers experience more technological issues, struggle more with password management, and are far more reckless in their online activity than older demographics. Not only do these younger employees create more work for IT teams and service desk personnel, but they also pose as significant cybersecurity liabilities for corporations.
Traditionally, security operations centers (SOC) used tools such as endpoint detection and response (EDR), network detection and response (NDR), and security information and event management (SIEM), but as a result of the rush to remote work, many security teams have found their tools are now blind to many new and emerging threats.
Employees forced to work remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic altered their online habits, and to minimize hacking risk they needed cybersecurity tools to keep up. As a result, security administrators face a danger they may not have previously anticipated: attacks from insiders.
For businesses without access to top data/security experts, working remotely during the pandemic has made them a top target for hackers. To discuss cybersecurity best practices businesses can learn from this situation, we talked to Jorge Rey, Kaufman Rossin’s Chief Information Security Officer.
There is an opportunity here for IT teams to stabilize their work-from-home situations while also preparing for the future back in the office, or for many, supporting a hybrid model. Long term solutions are needed for organizational success. There are many steps that can be taken to ensure infrastructure is properly cared for and ready to be used when teams are able to return to the office.
Working at home poses many challenges. One smart solution for enterprises that continues to help maintain business continuity is Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). It enables IT organizations to deliver a corporate endpoint experience on relatively inexpensive hardware while maintaining strict IT standards that will provide benefits well into the future.
SailPoint Technologies Holdings, Inc. released an international study uncovered several security threats with every worker whose access was freely granted without proper security controls in place, including phishing attempts, using personal devices for work and vice versa, and sharing passwords with friends and family.
The need for improved security for remote workers requires more resources; however, the ongoing economic conditions often require lowering costs. A Microsoft survey found most leaders increased budgets for security and compliance (58 and 65% noting an increase), while 81% of respondents also reported pressure to lower security costs overall. IT is therefore tasked with protecting their company’s networks from the remote work-related threats while operating with leaner budgets. Doing this effectively will require multiple strategies to make sure your network is secure with the shift to remote work. Here are three examples on how broader security can be achieved.
