Cyber Security Risk Management During COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 has created a tremendous challenge for businesses across the world. As we experience a radical change in our way to live and work by following social distancing, the world has remained more connected than ever. Shutdowns and lockdowns have become a new norm and most operations are largely dependent on Information Technology. But, this dependency on digital systems has exponentially evolved the threat landscape as hackers are ready to exploit emerging vulnerabilities.

Let’s go through the cyber risks that emerge in this Corona age and how we can respond to them effectively.

The key reason for the surge in cyber risks and vulnerabilities is the paradigm shift of many businesses from offline to an online model. Remote working or work-from-home concept is like the final nail in the coffin for startups and SMEs who have just switched to the digital system. Any organization, big or small, is at risk of a data breach in the corona age. Most employees have not worked from home in the past, and IT professionals have to extend remote working capacity to them.

Collaboration and communication software can also become a soft target for hackers because such software can have sensitive data and remote workplaces are less secure. What makes matters worse is the fact that while battling the dreaded coronavirus, we have no idea how long this situation will remain. Company leaders, managers, and employees need access to all necessary data anytime and from anywhere, and the IT department has to make it available.

Most companies have minimal or no plans for business continuity and incident response in place while dealing with the COVID-19. Cybercriminals can take advantage of recently heightened digital footprints and increased web traffic to find vulnerabilities. Security flaws in Zoom, a videoconferencing tool, have shocked the corporate world some time back. Fraudsters can either siphon off money or steal valuable data through phishing emails and malware.

Talking about the post-COVID-19 era, we do hope that the COVID-19 pandemic will last up to some months. But, it will make the IT landscape and cybersecurity domain more complicated than ever. Once we will get rid of this pandemic, many companies will move to new operating systems or reset their existing security system to ensure data safety. Cybersecurity service providers need to give responses to new cyber threats and remove vulnerabilities. IT security leaders will come up with a new BCP (Business Continuity Plans) by including a pandemic-like situation and keep on performing drills regularly.

The post-COVID-19 era will be of embracing new approaches and implementing new technologies while keeping cybersecurity in focus. Companies will also attempt to increase automation to reduce dependence on manual processes.

During and after COVID-19, enterprises have to implement a new cybersecurity strategy. As several employees still prefer to work remotely, companies need to validate their devices before connecting them with the corporate network. Zero Trust Identity and access management procedure should be adopted to address the increasing device-based vulnerabilities. Automation is indeed an excellent option in this troubled time, but then, patch management and password management are some of the essential steps to be taken by the IT department.

Companies should take assistance from reputed cybersecurity service providers for 24/7 surveillance and real-time risk analysis. E-learning or cybersecurity awareness programs can also play a vital role in keeping employees and entrepreneurs ready for any hacking attempt. The IT security professionals need to focus on remote working and implementation of cloud-based security services. Cloud-based secure virtual desktop services can enable IT, professionals, to get remote access to employees’ systems and help them mitigate the risks. Other measures include giving private access to employees without a VPN and utilize privileged access management services for remote working.

Multifactor authentication and other preventive measures can also make the company’s system resilient against any cyber attack.

Since its inception, ECS is dedicated to cybersecurity and strives for providing high-end cybersecurity solutions. We can safeguard your company’s valuable data effectively while providing intelligence networks and infrastructure. Just send us an email at sales@ecscorporation.com to know more about our cybersecurity solutions and digital forensic services. Our expert consultants will get back to you soon!