EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Among workers who have recently transitioned to remote work, more than 50% use personal laptops in order to complete work activities. Security researchers suggest that this, among other tech challenges caused by circumstance, could present organization-wide security threats.
Image courtesy of the Wall Street Journal.
In addition, 45% of employees report that their organization has not provided cyber security training to newly remote employees.
Cyber threats are on the rise. “Before the pandemic, some firms tracked thousands, even millions of threats a day. As soon as workers headed home, companies started seeing attacks surge”.
As of late May, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation received 320,000 complaints concerning cyber crime; nearly twice as many as in the year prior.
My company isn’t US-based:
For multi-national organizations, IT staff have had to keep pace with who is allowed into an office setting, and who must work remotely. One country’s personnel may be permitted to continue with office work, while another country’s personnel may suddenly need to transition into remote work. And due to changing personal and family demands, employees are working during unconventional hours.
As a network admin or technology chief, this makes security monitoring a challenge. “You’re used to your network traffic being in your network offices. You know what Monday at 10 a.m. looks like,” says one technology chief. “We upended all of that.”
Organizations are still getting their bearings when it comes to identifying new working patters vs. identifying legitimate security problems.
In the interim, hackers are seeking to exploit IT staffs’ lack of clarity around network security.
Could the influx of attacks culminate in a cyber pandemic? Leading experts believe that a cyber pandemic is likely.
To learn more about a potential cyber pandemic, visit the Wall Street Journal. For network security tips and info on unified security management, click here.