As the pandemic broke out, it caused havoc for businesses. Most organizations were forced to make a rapid transition to a remote workforce. Even as companies reopen, work from home is emerging as a long-term arrangement rather than a quick fix. Right now, as people and companies are comfortable with remote operations, the focus shifts to cybersecurity. The idea is to ensure business continuity while protecting the enterprise and its customers for the long haul.
While security also mattered during the lockdown phase, it is all the more valuable now because everyone understands that remote work is here to stay. It makes sense to ramp up your security strategy to manage the cyber risks prevailing in the new normal. If you haven’t done it yet, you need to do it sooner rather than later. Here are some measures you can adopt to help your business gear up.
Identifying and knocking down hotspots
As people are working from home, they have less secure environments and less secure personal equipment. There are bound to be process, operational, and technology gaps that could lead to major cyber risks. Apart from structural gaps, you will also come across training gaps because people are still not adept at maintaining digital hygiene with habits like updating mobile software and patching their computers. Now that work from home is more lasting in nature, it becomes crucial to identify such hotspots and close them with the right solutions. The sooner you do it, the better.
Fixing operations for the better
In the initial phase of the pandemic response, many businesses had to accept new risks, just to keep operations going. Now that employees and customers are accustomed to the changes, it is time to evaluate these residual risks and tighten controls. At this stage, you need to step back and assess your current operations holistically. The objective is to find the vulnerable points that could translate into cyber risks. Also, you may need to fix some operations to make your business ready for the new normal.
Going the extra mile with compliance
Another aspect that got sidetracked during the early days of COVID-19 was compliance. Though there is no way businesses can go slack with it, there are chances you may have slipped at one time or the other with the operations suddenly switching to remote work. Whether it happened or not, it is time to invest in a solution for mobile device management with GDPR compliance now. It ensures that mobile users are able to comply with data privacy at all times, even as they work from home for the long-term. Compliance keeps your business on track and away from legal hassles.
Fortifying security gains
Although the situation was troublesome for businesses, the good thing was that a majority of them were resilient enough to stay strong amid the crisis. With time, companies were able to standardize procedures for remote work and identify technologies that curbed long-term risk. Some even implemented stronger security and fraud prevention controls that they wouldn’t have invented if the situation had not come. The need of the hour is to fortify these security gains and make them even better if there is a scope. These are going to make your business strong and secure for the new era.
Identifying cybersecurity opportunities
The cybersecurity opportunities in the current scenario will depend on the transformation in the cyber risk appetite. The risks at this point are triggered by crisis-driven changes in business, such as the move to remote work and higher customer traffic. It is time for the cybersecurity team to constantly anticipate risks and embed the required security capabilities at the right time. They need to work closely with business partners so that they can understand the challenges at the ground level. Staying one step ahead of the opportunities enables you to create an optimal cyber pathway that supports further business growth.
Anticipating the next normal
Even as the new normal is here, you cannot expect the transition to stop here. The next normal is just around the corner, and organizations that can anticipate it will have a head start. Business and cybersecurity leaders need to ideate how the business environment will pan out ahead and have clear strategies in mind to deal with the upcoming cyber risks that they may come across in the future.
Managing cyber risks in the new normal requires considerable effort, but every ounce is worthwhile. It will ensure that your business gets through the toughest crisis and emerges as a leader.