During the past few months, most of us have had our lives turned upside down because of the pandemic. The widespread shelter-in-place orders, mass migration to remote work arrangements and economic upheaval that have accompanied the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) worldwide have drastically altered how we go about our days and how we do business.
Although all 50 states have begun reopening their economies and there's talk of "going back to normal," it's important to consider that some of the changes we've experienced weren't caused by the pandemic but were transitions already in motion that the crisis has expedited – such as the growing prevalence of automation and the rise of e-commerce, according to the New Statesman article "How Covid-19 will accelerate trends that were already changing our world."
As a result, instead of looking forward to returning to the way everything was pre-coronavirus, business leaders seeking to ensure long-term success should focus on adapting to these trends and creating the company of the future. In the realm of cybersecurity, here are just a few factors forward-looking executives should keep in mind to stay competitive in our present COVID-19-altered world and beyond.
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The need to effectively equip and secure remote work environments.
Once the gravity of the pandemic became clear, companies with employees who could complete their professional duties from home quickly transitioned their teams to remote work arrangements: Between mid-March and mid-April, the percentage of employed American adults who reported working from home because of COVID-19 concerns went from 31 percent to 62 percent, according to Gallup.
It's becoming clear that this shift in the number of people working from home probably won't revert to pre-pandemic numbers, even after local authorities lift shelter-in-place orders and eliminate the restrictions put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Only 26 percent of remote workers told Gallup they'd like to go back to their offices once society reopens. The rest report a preference to stay home, either because of coronavirus-related concerns or simply because that's what they want to do. Some prominent companies – such as Twitter and Facebook – are already accommodating that preference, according to The Wall Street Journal article "For Many, Remote Work Is Becoming Permanent in Wake of Coronavirus."
As a result, it makes sense that the company of the future needs the ability to secure remote work environments. In addition to ensuring your home-workers have all the proper equipment, the following solutions and strategies ensure high levels of IT security. Please keep in mind that this isn't an exhaustive list.
- Employee security awareness training
- A next-gen remote access solution that allows remote workers to securely connect to your corporate network from any device
- Advanced anti-virus and anti-malware software
- Proactive cybersecurity monitoring to detect threats and provide support
- Device encryption
- A Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution
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The disappearance of the network perimeter.
The idea of having a network completely contained in one building with an impenetrable border was no longer practical, even before we all started working from home, as evidenced by the 2019 Help Net Security article "The perimeter is vanishing, how will you secure your network?" This development was previously driven by the skyrocketing number of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and mobile devices both in and outside of the workplace. Now, the exodus of workers from office buildings to their homes and the use of personal devices for remote work has further eroded network perimeters, if they exist at all anymore.
That means that traditional security measures like firewalls are no longer sufficient in safeguarding your network against malicious actors. Solutions like endpoint and network MDR – which proactively search for, identify and combat IT security threats – are vital if you want to keep your data breach risk level as low as possible.
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The growing appeal of zero trust networks.
The concept of a zero trust network – also known as zero trust architecture – is far from new. In fact, John Kindervag, a principal analyst at Forrester Research at the time, introduced the idea back in 2010, according to the CSO article "What is Zero Trust? A model for more effective security." Essentially, it's an approach to IT security that involves treating everything both inside and outside of your company's network with skepticism. No communicates are allowed by default. Rather, everything's an exception, according to Foresite.
Since everyone started working from home, businesses have had to deal with new IT security vulnerabilities presented by remote work infrastructure, on top of a spike in cybercrime as malicious actors seek to take advantage of the public health crisis with coronavirus-related phishing attempts and other types of attacks. Consequently, the zero trust approach to security has gained popularity: From 2019 to 2020, the portion of North American organizations that have a zero trust initiative on the books already or intend to have one in the next 12 to 18 months grew 275 percent year-over-year to 60 percent, according to The State of Zero Trust Security in Global Organizations report from Okta.
If you're interested in implementing this type of framework with a Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), check out our Office Anywhere offering.
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Cloud security strategies and solutions.
Many businesses had already moved at least some applications and workloads to the cloud before the pandemic started, and the sharp rise in remote work arrangements has only sped up the migration from on-premise solutions to this type of technology. Fifty-nine percent of enterprises surveyed for the 2020 State of the Cloud Report from Flexera say they expect to use the cloud more than they previously expected as a result of COVID-19.
That makes plenty of sense when you consider that one of the biggest advantages of the cloud is its accessibility from anywhere. To ensure their team members can still communicate properly with colleagues and clients, many companies have implemented Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) and Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) solutions.
It follows that businesses that increase their reliance on the cloud must also pay more attention to cloud-related security. Although public cloud solution providers like Good Cloud, Microsoft Azure and AWS generally have advanced security controls in place, it's important to carefully evaluate the suppliers you choose to work with. Here are just a few steps you can take:
- Ensure you know the compliance and security requirements of the data you move to the cloud.
- Look into the specific IT security measures the solution supplier uses.
- Work with cloud consultants to gain expert insights into your options.
Ultimately, as much as some of us might nostalgically recall the past, the pandemic and other forces have permanently altered our reality. Even before COVID-19, the way we do business was already in flux, with digital transformation becoming a top priority for businesses across all industries: In 2019, the International Data Corporation (IDC) projected that more than half of IT spending would go toward digital transformation and innovation by 2024.
Embracing change is the only way to ensure your business survives not only the coronavirus, but also the other crises and societal shifts we'll inevitably experience going forward. For more information about adjusting your cybersecurity strategy to ensure you're positioned for long-term success, please contact your account manager.