With pandemic restrictions being lifted and more employees returning to the workplace, what does that mean for the business, IT, and security?
With COVID-19 exposing many weaknesses within organizations, the pandemic has forced them to re-examine their approach for IT security in relation to their budgets. Companies will be focusing on securing data protection within the organization now more than ever.
Companies will be forced to review the entire network security aspects and firewall protections, as well as perform regular software updates and do a full examination of overall network deficiencies. This is due to the rise of various Ransomware attacks, including the rapid explosion of moving networks to the cloud environment.
Health care organizations should and would be required to ensure their networks are protected to the highest possible degree, and that budgets are allocated for these preventative measures. Many large and mid-size companies will inevitably pursue options for the cloud environment. But they must ensure the many security holes, challenges, misconfigurations and business continuity plans represent the current state of their systems. They also must ensure a plan of action has been fully tested, and that individuals know their roles and responsibilities during Business Continuity Planning (BCP) tabletop test exercises.
As cyber criminals have exposed many deficiencies during the pandemic, with network infrastructures, companies will need to ensure that their Advanced Persistent Threats (also known as APT attacks) regarding firewalls and firewall detection devices are fully tested and evaluated continually.
Due to the pandemic, the need for experienced cyber security professionals took a backseat given the extreme expenses COVID 19 cost corporate budgets. Corporations will need to focus their priorities on hiring or aligning themselves with experienced IT security companies specializing in examining and detecting any outstanding weaknesses and policy loopholes within IT security. They also need to ensure sufficient audits are performed by fully qualified individuals. As loopholes are detected and resolved with personnel back in the office, cyber criminals will be increasingly forced to find a path inside a trusted corporation network. Hackers will exploit every opportunity available to find the slightest weakness to exploit for major gains, like Ransomware attacks.
The pandemic has already forced literally every organization to become better at recognizing the IT security challenges that will persist in 2021 and future years. The value a company places on its data protection will determine just how successful and well it can be trusted with future business opportunities and clients. For companies with smaller budgets or that haven’t previously taken IT security with utmost regard, it would be imperative to change their approach. If they don’t, attackers will force them to act.
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