The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted labor markets worldwide during 2020 and it hasn’t yet ended. We saw the short-term consequences in millions of people rapidly adjusted to working from home as offices closed.
The pandemic has accelerated new trends that are reshaping the ordinary view of work; it pushed companies and individuals to rapidly adopt new behaviours that are likely to survive. Remote working and virtual meeting – that so much “Zoom fatigue” have caused so far – are likely to continue, albeit less intensely than at the pandemic’s peak.
Perhaps the dramatic increase in employees working remotely is the most obvious impact on the labor force. For those who ask how extensevely remote work might persist after the pandemic, McKinsey analyzed its potential and found about 20% to 25% of the workforce in advanced economies could work from home between three and five days a week. Even if we all know that some work that technically can be done remotely is definetely best done in person (examples are critical business decisions, brainstorming sessions, onboarding new employess, among others), remote work will increase four to five times more than before the pandemic.
Some companies are already planning to shift to flexible workspaces after positive experiences with remote work and they are facing a new need to secure their networks. Remote work requires the company to implement procedures aimed at regulating and managing the traffic or information in accordance with the enforced European directives, like the GDPR.
According to McKinsey, two-thirds of senior executives said in a global survey they were stepping up investment in automation and AI. This means that the next future scenario will be more competitive since many firms are catching up with innovation and security and are exhibiting extraordinary adptability and flexibility with purpose and innovation.
How can companies manage the challenges of the remote working?
Remote working is not a bed of roses. Among the many risks that may occur, home internet connections are a big threat. The huge number of people working remotely has paved more way for hackers. The more devices connected to a network, the larger its attack surface becomes, making infiltration much easier.
The attackers waste little time targeting insecure home networks and connected devices. They find security vulnerabilities that would allow them to burrow into companies networks and the attacks may include everything from ransomware and email phishing scams to social engineering attacks of any size.
A secure working environment requires reliable connections, resources, and technologies – without adding overheads to IT. Intellisync can help you address these modern challenges with trusted solutions.
Intellisync experts suggest some important points to mitigate the risk of cyber-attacks on companies networks:
- The use of a Next Generation VPN (Virtual Private Network) that supports the newer security protocols;
- The opportunity to use a VPN client that includes EDR (End-point Detection Response) capabilities, in order to check software updates. In the latest versions of programs, vulnerabilities are usually patched, and cybercriminals rely on people being too lazy to update software. It’s important, then, to regularly update everything installed on any device used for work purposes;
- To adopt a SIEM (Security Incident and Event Management) framework that allows the cybersecurity team to monitor, alert, and mitigate any attack attempt and support the investigation. A good example is Splunk;
- Align with IT industry best practices and provide your team with training sessions about security awareness. You can find here more information.
VPN is the most used tool when talking about remote working and it is useful if connecting to Wi-Fi networks that don’t belong to the company, to prevent others connected to the same network from spying on your business information.
How Intellisync can help
Intellisync has developed a comprehensive offer to address these issues and more. We provide with a Next Generation VPN service and a Security Operation Center able to identity threats and quickly respond with proactive resolution.
Sources:
- Network Guidelines for Smart Workers, Free Mind Foundry
- The future of work after COVID-19, McKinsey
- What’s next for remote work, McKinsey
