When the pandemic first hit, every company’s IT department had to adapt infrastructures and processes to enable an unanticipated, enormous transition to remote work for those who could work from home. Many businesses adopted large-scale remote-access infrastructures and increased their use of cloud and cloud-delivered services like software-as-a-service (SaaS) models.
The shift to the remote or hybrid work model provided cybercriminals with an opportunity to execute malicious designs. Bad actors launched more than 10 million DDoS attacks targeted at damaging targets that rely heavily on online services during the pandemic. That happened because most companies ignored cybersecurity best practices in the face of an unforeseen pandemic.
Here are some measures that companies can take to improve their cybersecurity after the COVID-19 pandemic.
1. Integrate security into your company’s culture completely
Every company’s corporate culture should include security and business continuity planning. A cyberattack response plan and other “war-gaming” exercises should be included in this planning. Conduct thorough employee training and develop a rapid reaction plan to serve as a line of protection against hackers.
Every organization’s cybersecurity practice must be reinforced throughout all functions. Leadership should lead by example, exhibiting a commitment to security that sets the tone for the rest of the organization. Threat intelligence exchange is another key cybersecurity best practice. Sharing within peer industries can help organizations learn a lot.
As the role of chief information security officer (CISO) becomes more strategic and the function becomes more elevated, the role of the CISO is also likely to evolve. Some businesses may even combine the CISO role with the CIO and Business Continuity Planning (BCP) to form a unified digital process officer or cloud technology officer with greater accountability across the organization.
2. Plan for network and security convergence at the new edge
Many businesses have grown to rely on virtual private network (VPN) infrastructures to connect critical systems and applications as work has mainly shifted to remote locations. However, the security that governs these VPNs might not be enough. As a result, enterprises have begun to replace their VPNs with SD-WAN. Many SD-WAN suppliers have included security measures in their portfolios in recent years.
Furthermore, new secure access service edge (SASE) solutions are combining network and network security into a single cloud service that provides much-needed edge connection and device security.
3. Divide the areas of business, private, and government
The move to remote work has hastened the convergence of personal and business applications and data on the same home network and devices. As a result, security teams will have to devise effective strategies for separating the two domains.
Security teams should expect to shift away from heavily customized approaches and toward more integrated “out of the box” alternatives to handle home network segmentation. As a result, suppliers will boost their efforts in this area to suit the segmentation and micro-segmentation needs of all authorized stakeholders in personal data and apps.
4. Support coordinated anti-ransomware efforts
As ransomware attacks continue to wreak havoc on businesses, new industry initiatives are being launched to fight the problem. Security companies, trade associations, business organizations, and governments are increasingly collaborating to develop countermeasures to these assaults.
Extending Know Your Customer (KYC) transparency regulations in financial transactions to encompass bitcoin transactions is one such policy under consideration. Because ransomware attackers prefer these payment methods because they are untraceable, additional KYC laws could be a significant impediment. Businesses should aggressively support efforts like these.
