Cybersecurity in the new normal

As the global workplace paradigm shifted to a remote workforce, many companies found themselves in a scramble to figure out whether an entire company operating remotely and safely was even feasible. Unfortunately, hurry leads to waste, and stopgap 'good enough' protection strategies have left companies with a severe lack of visibility through corporate and personal devices, as well as rudimentary breach response plans.

Given the increased complexity of a dispersed workforce, companies need their cybersecurity technology to maintain a high level of protection for workers at home or the workplace. If and when we embrace a permanent hybrid work-from-anywhere workforce, the greatest danger is that organisations fall short in securing both offsite and in-office legacy systems.

Businesses must embrace the cloud as the key to unlocking work-from-anywhere cybersecurity to ensure that they are on the right track for remaining safe in the new normal. The cloud is the new gold standard for elevating cybersecurity solutions beyond just 'good enough'. It has to be airtight because the road out is also the road in.

Concerns around cloud cybersecurityBuilding a solid incident response plan - whether by internal resources or external managed services - is a successful first step toward plugging the holes in baseline 'good enough' protection. An entire remote workforce adds a great deal of complexity to incident response. The cloud is the missing element in developing the ideal 'secret sauce' for a successful remote workforce incident response strategy.

The only way to connect the home and the workplace quickly and safely is via the cloud. One of the main advantages of the cloud is the simplicity and speed at which advanced technologies can deploy and the visibility it provides for work-from-anywhere cybersecurity. With employees working on corporate or personal computers, at home or in the office, on a corporate network or at home, the cloud gives IT security teams consistent, unmatched visibility across the board, as well as rapid scalability and access to work devices at home or in the office when needed.

Regular access to on-site servers is also challenging. The cloud eliminates the need for IT security teams to travel to the office. It provides massive storage and computing power, allowing them to implement and monitor real-time protection from the safety of their own homes. The cloud makes working from anywhere more accessible by removing the need to schedule, prepare, and provision hardware and software and ensure that additional resources are available when needed.

"CIOs understand that cybersecurity and cyber-attacks are a continuous concern," said Abdulqader Ali, CEO of Smartworld. "Their concerns are valid. By 2025, there will be 75 billion IoT devices, an increase of more than 125 per cent compared to today. Every device carries with it a security issue."

The new cybersecurity normBusinesses are gradually returning from completely remote work to a hybrid of at-home and in-office work, with the mix varying from company to company. The discussion has shifted away from remote work and toward the idea of 'work from anywhere'. Businesses must adopt long-term strategies and solutions that will enable them to maintain the 'work from anywhere' paradigm.

In assessing cloud protection technologies and services, the first move is to ensure the vendor is genuinely cloud-native. The word 'cloud-native' is bandied around a lot these days, but it just means 'born in the cloud for the cloud'. It does not host legacy technology.

Cloud agents are excellent at network scanning and data collection, but there are often more agents than needed. Your cloud resource can significantly reduce the complexity of the protection suite by keeping the number to a minimum and using solutions that function well together.

Finally, look beyond conventional antivirus and malware to more powerful endpoint defences, detection and response, intelligence, and threat hunting services to take the security suite to the next level, capable of defending against emerging threats.

Through Smartworld's cybersecurity offerings, businesses gain access to proven cybersecurity technologies deployed and operated by qualified consultants. The company's mission is to boost cyber defences; by providing cyber risk profiles and by assessing digital defences and customised training for customers to timely detect and respond to advance cyber-attacks and deploy cyber defence technologies based on risk prioritisation.

For more information about Smartworld cybersecurity offerings, please visit https://smartworld.com/ict-solutions/cyber-security/