Post-pandemic virtual work increasing cyber security risks

As people around the world quickly converted to virtual work environments in response to the Covid-19 epidemic, cyber security issues arose. While the 'Zoom bombing' garnered news, there are a slew of additional cyber risks lurking beneath the pixels of virtual labour. Many experts believe that the Covid-19 lockdown will forever alter the ways and places in which we work, implying that as more people go to remote work, cyber security will remain a major focus for businesses.

Security prioritization for small businesses & MSPs

The introduction of remote work caught many small firms off guard, with more than two-thirds of IT decision makers claiming inadequate technology as the primary source of suffering.

It is vital for a managed service provider (MSP), who remotely administers a business's IT infrastructure and end-user applications, to adapt as client needs change. While organisations that work under an MSP would traditionally function from an office, their staffs are now working from home, potentially exposing the MSP and its customers to security risks.

Acceleration towards remote/virtual work

While developments in telecommunications technology made virtual work more accessible than ever before Covid-19, most cases of virtual labour were the exception rather than the rule. Prior to Covid, less than 10 per cent of private sector and government employees, mostly in the top income groups, had access to a "flexible workplace" benefit.

Even sectors that had been sluggish to implement work-from-home rules in the past, such as the government and financial industries, were forced to accept the new circumstances as a result of the pandemic. Covid-19 was a great shot of adrenaline for those looking to make the transition to virtual work. While employers may have believed that virtual labour would just be temporary at first, the reality of more long-term change has emerged.

Need for secure modes of communication

The transition to virtual work necessitates further expenditures in home security systems. According to multiple Industry-wide surveys, cybercrime increased fourfold during the pandemic. Companies spent a lot of money on their workplace security infrastructures before Covid, but they weren't meant to secure personal computers from employees' homes. As a result, the attack surface has grown in two areas: communication, such as video conferencing, email, and chat room apps, and file transfer, particularly of sensitive documents. Beyond internal company communications, external communications like phishing and social-engineering attacks have also become an area of focused cyber-attacks.

Convergence of healthcare and cyber security

The implications of the Covid-19 outbreak on the healthcare business are perhaps the most significant. Aside from dealing with the pandemic, the industry has been pushed to reconsider how it conducts its regular operations. Doctors and hospitals have been hesitant to adopt new technology, and doctors prefer to work face-to-face.

However, as a result of this shift to digital interfaces, security becomes a big worry, particularly in terms of regulations. If doctors and patients communicate and exchange documents over the internet, such information must be protected. Companies that provide solutions to data security concerns may find enormous opportunities in the healthcare industry if telemedicine becomes the standard, not just now but also in the future.

(The author is Head – Information Technology, Hannover Re - India Branch)