Bolstering cyber security capabilities during Covid-19 and beyond

WHEN the Covid-19 pandemic hit its peak, businesses across the globe had to make drastic changes to survive. Owing to difficulties in arranging personal meetings and the inability to work with physical documents, most organisations adopted technological innovations and went digital.

Not only did the pandemic force most companies to embrace the new digital era, but about 70 per cent of companies rolled out work from home (WFH) for their employees. This included increasing network connectivity to allow more people to connect simultaneously; shifting select workloads to the cloud to make access easier and faster; adopting new collaboration and productivity solutions such as Zoom and Slack; and deploying devices such as laptops along with peripherals. Unfortunately, while companies scrambled to keep their workers productive, there was a significant rise in cybercrime.

Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, few organisations had mature cyber security capabilities that could meet the mounting challenges posed by attackers. Research by Bain & Company in the fourth quarter of 2019 found that executives at many companies overestimate the effectiveness of their cyber security and lack the strategic capabilities essential for a robust posture. Instead of increasing cyber security, over 40 per cent of large enterprises made moderate to significant reductions in information technology (IT) budgets, and about 20 per cent cut their security spending.