Cybersecurity strategies must adapt to teleworking

Innovation

By the end of the year, almost a third of employees globally will be teleworking, and this proportion is not expected to fall significantly in the near future, forcing organizations to bring forward their digital transformation plans and adapt the protection of their IT systems accordingly and design them with this in mind, says Maxvalor Hungary, the Hungarian distributor of Heimdal Security.

By the end of this year, around a third (32%) of employees worldwide will be working remotely on a permanent basis, according to a recent estimate by Gartner Group, one of the world's largest IT research and advisory firms. This is almost double the level of two years ago, when the organization's figures show the proportion was just 17% at the end of 2019. In addition, as offices reopen in 2021, 51% of employees working from them are now performing their duties on a hybrid system, meaning they can work from home at least one working day a week.  
 
As for the proportion of teleworkers, despite hopes that the epidemic will ease, the consultancy firm sees no significant change next year, estimating that this will fall minimally to 31% in 2022. Compared with other countries the United States is expected to lead the way, with 53% of the U.S. workforce estimated to work from home. In Europe, the share of teleworkers in the United Kingdom will reach 52%, while in China and India it will be only 28% and 30% respectively. 
 
"The fact that the proportion of home office workers will remain at such a high level will force organizations to bring forward their digital transformation plans by at least five years, and in some sectors by up to ten years. They will necessarily have to adapt to a post-epidemic world that includes a sustained increase in teleworking and digital touchpoints. This most certainly also means rethinking the protection of corporate networks and systems. There is a growing trend in the field of defense to focus on prevention. One of the reasons for this is that employees working remotely should not be exposed to content that could paralyze the entire network or even the operation of the company if clicked on," stressed Dénes Gölcz, managing director of Maxvalor Hungary Kft.
 
The results of a survey carried out this summer on behalf of Maxvalor's founders, which polled nearly 120 Hungarian company managers, show that nearly 14% of decision-makers felt that the most important thing during a virus situation was to manage their team remotely, protect company data and ensure adequate IT security.
 
According to the data, there are two areas in particular that businesses see as particularly challenging over the next year. Almost half of respondents are concerned about sales (47%) and around 40% about financial processes. A sizeable proportion also worry about recruitment (18%) and marketing (14%).
 
The areas that companies would like to make more efficient with digital solutions are mostly in line with the expected challenges, also in a one-year perspective. Indeed, respondents would like to improve sales (40%), online marketing (30%), internal communication (28%), IT - including remote management, monitoring and process automation (26%), finance (26%), and logistics (14%).

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