How Can Companies Protect Themselves Post Pandemic?

With Singapore and many countries around the world start to re-open their economy gradually after weeks and months of lock down, how are businesses responding to the new normal? The way we work has definitely changed.

Telecommuting

Since the pandemic hit us, many businesses are forced to accommodate many changes, and one of them is telecommuting, or Working From Home. Even after the circuit breaker is lifted, many businesses will continue this new way of working for safety reasons. According to Gartner, 74% of companies intend to keep at least 5% of their previously on-site employees in remote work positions following the pandemic due to the financial benefits

This means a few things. One, business activities will be conducted online. Two, businesses will need to provide the necessary/basic provisions? for their employees to work from home such as laptops, access to data and systems in the cloud, etc. which brings us to the next point.

Upgrade and Investment in Technology

The rapid adoption of new technology to enable working from home and moving businesses operations online has put a considerable amount of strain on IT departments and security teams to ensure the safety of these new tools while. This sudden shift to a more digital operations has revealed gaps in many businesses. Many are not able to keep up with the change due to outdated technology and systems. According to the WEF, the increase in work-from-home (WFH) arrangements has also expanded the use of potentially vulnerable services, such as virtual private networks (VPNs) that lack adequate safeguards, amplifying the threat to individuals and organisations.

Now that businesses have all the new solutions for remote working, what are the implications?

As the pandemic accelerated adoption of technology, it also increased cyber-risks for businesses. It has created new opportunities for cybercriminals to take advantage on the increase in coronavirus-themed phishing emails, misconfigurations in rapidly adopted technologies and so on. Suddenly, business leaders must ensure that business networks stay secure with almost all their employees working from home and with sensitive data being accessed from different places.

As a result, many organisations are increasing their spending in cybersecurity. Cybersecurity spending is the top IT priority this year, with 68% of major organisations, both public and private, have plans to increase their cybersecurity investments in response to the pandemic.

How can employers futureproof their infrastructure?

Getting up to speed with cybersecurity policies and processes

Perform a risk assessment on critical processes and review remote working policies with a focus on cybersecurity. In the rush to support remote work, employees may have turned to a wide variety of publicly available online applications in order to communicate and share information with their colleagues. Now would be a good time to identify the software needs of employees, reassess software, services, and platforms that are being used, and set policies around software that is sanctioned for company use.

Cybersecurity Training

Employees need to be more aware of how they access data and the current threat landscape such as common phishing techniques, precautions when working from public spaces.

Secure Remote Working Tools

Vulnerability Management

Regularly check for vulnerabilities. Vulnerabilities should be patched as soon as possible, especially systems that have access to company data because they may be exploited by cybercriminals. Now that things are up and running, it’s time to consider a security audit. It’s likely that some of these devices are not compliant with organizational security policies. Some devices may be unpatched or installed with outdated operating systems.

Useful Tools For FREE

The pandemic has taught many of us to become better prepared to face unexpected scenarios. Take simple steps. Here are some free resources that may guide your business to the new economy.

1. Pragma FREE IT Security Health Check - – A non-invasive security test to understand your external risks. Sign up, answer a few simple questions and receive a tailored report on your network’s security with recommendations within 2 days.
2. Right-Hand Cybersecurity Free Cyber Training - Our partner, Right-Hand Cybersecurity is offering a free cybersecurity training that teaches employees how to be more cyber ready when working from home.