While far from over, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a massive effect on organizations and the security teams that work to protect them. Yet there have been learnings and interesting pieces of information at every stage of the pandemic.
Many companies discovered their continuity plans didn’t account for every employee working remotely at the same time. While most companies managed to transition smoothly to the “new normal,” many needed to invest in technology or education to ensure their staff understood what they should and should not be doing.
Once the transition was complete, organizations found their attack surface had changed immensely and threat actors attempted to seize upon the opportunity. Phishing, brute-force and malware attacks surged while the number of endpoints connecting to corporate networks ballooned.
COVID has accelerated digital transformation efforts, which could result in business leaders making cybersecurity a higher priority. Meanwhile, the shrinking of physical office footprints and the possibility of a large permanent remote workforce means CISOs need to reassess their long-term technology priorities and risk.
Here are the key cybersecurity stats around the pandemic and how this data might inform your thinking about the people, processes and technology in your own organization both now in the future.
