The New Normal: Building Resilience to Keep Business Moving

How IT decision makers can support continuity of business and empower remote employees as COVID-19 related security threats continue to mount

By Gary Tierney, Managing Director at HP Ireland

The New Normal: Building Resilience to Keep Business Moving

The past couple of months have brought unprecedented challenges that have interrupted our everyday lives and the way we do business. According to a survey by Irishjobs.ie, 90% of Ireland’s employees are currently working from home, and with this new normal set to continue for some time, business leaders and IT professionals must identify new solutions to keep their employees operating efficiently. For employers, having any percentage – let alone the majority – of a workforce suddenly working remotely means that the right security solutions and best practice guidelines must be in place in order to ensure continuity of business.

In the early days of this unprecedented disruption, IT decision makers had to scale work-from-home capabilities almost overnight. That in itself was a huge feat, but the work is far from over. More than 60% of Irish businesses are now considering how to make remote working a more permanent option for those staff who don’t need to be in the office. Remote technologies are going to play an even more critical role in shaping workplaces of the future, though the monumental task of keeping a company’s information secure is now more difficult than ever before.

The truth is, no matter how well a business deploys the right security tools, the technology needs combining with effective protocols and a greater level of awareness amongst staff regarding how to stay cyber safe.

Educating the end user

While employees are busy trying to maintain business as usual, they’re also distracted by profound societal changes. Workers are adjusting to the new rhythm of remote working, while cyber criminals are working silently in the background looking for ways to exploit the sudden disruption to routine. Such is the allure of a pre-occupied employee, Irish cybersecurity firms have reported significant increases in targeted malicious activity in recent weeks, while the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) Ireland has issued warnings around the scale of COVID-19 related security threats.

Just recently, a workplace email claiming to have been from the World Health Organisation (WHO) asked recipients to click on a link to access safety measures regarding the spread of COVID-19, but when the link was clicked through, it activated malware that infected the end users device. With well-crafted emails claiming to be from such reputable sources, it’s easy to see how employees that aren’t up to speed can be fooled. As a result, steady internal communications that raise awareness of the threat vectors, as well as remind workers of their responsibility and the resources at their disposal, are critical.

Additionally, in instances where remote working procedures were implemented under severe time pressure, vulnerabilities may be exposed where existing IT security services do not extend to remote devices. In the absence of a dedicated IT department, employees must be briefed on the proper incident reporting processes and directed where to go to seek the relevant guidance. Providing regular updates on company best practices, including which platforms are approved for messaging and video conferencing, is one of the most practical steps an employer can take to mitigate risk.

Don’t lose sight of real-time activity

From being duped by phishing attempts to not using complex passwords, human error has always been a contributing factor in exposing IT infrastructure to external threats. During lockdown, though, it could be even worse. Phishing emails, malware links and scams have grown more sophisticated in the last year, and the continued blurring of lines between work and home expose organisations to attacks from enterprising hackers. Particularly when there is a tendency for employees to use their work devices to stay in touch with friends.

In this new reality, endpoints are on the front line, and away from more secure corporate networks, endpoints need to be able to protect themselves. Intelligent, proactive, hardware-enforced security systems can ensure that every remote device is ready to hold its own against attacks, support the defences of the network it sits in, and get back to business quickly. If employees run regular scans, close off any company applications accessed on their device at the end of each day and do not click on suspicious links, they will significantly reduce their exposure.

IT managers should also do everything in their power to make sure the reports they see of suspicious activity are as close to real time as possible. This requires a blend of securely-designed hardware and the latest software, implemented across the company’s entire technology ecosystem. These tools allow IT teams to identify and isolate incidents that end users may not even be aware of, which is an essential capability for keeping any workforce, but especially a remote one, secure.

When this pandemic spread, nearly every company was unprepared to implement such massive transformation so quickly. But by continuing to prioritise cybersecurity and by acknowledging that our ways of working are forever altered, IT teams can ensure that the ‘new normal’ is as cyber secure as possible for the organisation’s workforce.

As part of HP’s commitment to supporting the workforce and maximizing cybersecurity, we’re offering free access to HP resources, such as Sure Click Pro and security webinars. For more information, please visit: https://www8.hp.com/us/en/solutions/business-solutions/security.html#sure-click-pro

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