By B2B business, Business continuity, cybersecuritystrategy
COVID-19 pandemic caused an unprecedented global impact. Without a shadow of a doubt, life as we know it will change. The outbreak forced organizations to embrace social distancing, remote working, and many more solutions to be able to keep this pandemic at a lower scale. Many industries are suffering, and the cybersecurity market is not an exception. Due to the business crisis that we are all in, companies are scaling down their operations, and mistakenly, some of them see cybersecurity as a cost more than as a necessity.
The global spread of the virus generated numerous privacy, data protection, security, and compliance questions. This situation will result in more infected personal computers, phones, and even smishing events (SMS phishing). These difficult times are driving the need for companies and organizations to ensure their digital experience platforms are secure and forward-looking, with a Business Continuity Plan in place.Hackers Are Ready For Business
With such a high percentage of people working from home globally, the rise of cyber threats is obvious. While the world focuses on the health and economic threats, cyber criminals are capitalizing on this crisis.
From January to the present, a spike in phishing attacks can be easily observed. Hackers created thousands of COVID-19 related sites, using COVID-19 promotional codes, as a bait. Like “Cyber Monday” or “Black Friday”, several “coronavirus specials” are on the market right now.
Source: www.checkpoint.com
One of the examples is the attack suffered by the U.S. health department. Another case that caused fear and astonishment among the entire world is the cyber attack on the WHO (World Health Organization).
CyberSecurity Services Are More Important Than Ever
With many employees working remotely, enterprise virtual private network (VPN) servers have now become a lifeline to companies. In this context, security and availability should be the main focus in the new normal that we are living right now. In addition to this, some users may utilize personal computers to perform work-related duties, which, no need to say, means a significant amount of cybersecurity risks for the organization.
Businesses should take proactive steps to protect their customers and employees. Advice on opening links, emails, or documents related to the subject COVID-19 are very useful. But they are far from enough. The detection and alerting security services have to be up and running more than ever, and a Security Awareness Program needs to be considered as well.
Many organizations have business continuity plans, but the impact of a worldwide pandemic, as COVID-19 is, was not taken into account as a BCP for 2020. Due to the widespread of the current crisis, companies need to reiterate their Business Continuity Plan and to reinforce the cybersecurity services that they have with a greater force than they did before the pandemic.
Why is cybersecurity more important than ever in the current business crisis, and what do you risk if you don’t prioritize it?
“Cyber Security is becoming one of the most critical components of the business, considering the amount of risk a harmful cybersecurity event can have on any business.
With workers now primarily working from home, they are away from the safety of the corporate network leaving them more exposed than ever. Additionally, Cybercriminals are increasing their efforts at record rates. The combination of this makes this a very dangerous period of time for cybersecurity, and failing to prioritize things like cybersecurity software and people training could be a fatal error.”
Craig Sandman
President and Co-Founder, Symbol Security
Post Pandemic Effect On CyberSecurity
The COVID-19 caused a global economic crisis. Experts predict a recession as part of the after effects of the pandemic. A strategy after the pandemic is more than needed. This, most probably, will include downsizing by cutting business lines considered non-critical, which may include cybersecurity operations. This plan might seem penny wise at the moment, but in the long run, this decision will increase the number of cyber attacks and the impact on the whole organization. In conclusion, companies should update their Business Continuity Plans and remote working policies and prioritize cybersecurity.
COVID-19 will change our lives in many ways. New work styles, new cybersecurity issues, new proposed policies, and many more. The fight against COVID-19 is not just for the organization, employee or customer, it’s, and should be, a combined effort from every part of the system.
Companies worldwide have to be reminded that as well as washing our hands regularly, it’s essential to keep our cyber-hygiene as clean as possible, too.
How can Cybersecurity Companies Enable Their Growth?
The process of making your audience listen and understand that cybersecurity is a real necessity is a major pain point in the cybersecurity market. To make them see what should be obvious, you need a full-service cybersecurity marketing agency that has years of experience working with CISOs and their teams.
Working with an agency with vast knowledge in the cybersecurity space may be the key to boost traffic and generate qualified leads, even in not so fortunate times, as the one that we face right now. NNC Services is a marketing agency with more than 14 years of experience in providing marketing support to IT & Technology Solutions.
If you want to generate demo trials and increase sales, let’s set up a call with one of our senior marketing consultants that will give you tested recommendations on how to implement or optimize your marketing strategies. For more information, check out this article about Cyber Security Marketing Strategies That Can Grow Your Business.
