24 June 2020

Artem

The Impact of Working from Home during Covid-19 on Data Security


As of May 2nd 2020, FBI recorded a 300% increase in reported cyber security crimes (IMC Grupo)

“The Covid- 19 pandemic is not only causing global disruption it’s also changed the cyber security threat landscape. While the world is focusing on health and the economic threats posed by Covid-19 cyber criminals are undoubtedly capitalizing on this crisis.” – Ronan Murphy, CEO Getvisibility

Modern technology has been a lifeline for many businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic, allowing employees to work from home. This has afforded thousands of companies the ability to continue trading and maintain customer communication, which otherwise this would not have been possible. However, this has not been without its risks as a large number of organizations were forced into making this adjustment while lacking the necessary expertise, policies and procedures and infrastructure to execute working from home safely.

There are a number of risk areas associated with remote working such as

– Accessing sensitive data on personal or public internet connections without the use of appropriate VPN

– Devices accessible to persons outside of the organization and at risk of interference, loss or theft

– Unsupervised use of sensitive, regulated or personal data leading to increased risk of data leakage (both purposeful or accidental)

These risks coupled with the opportunistic nature of hackers and an increase in disgruntled employees due to changes in working conditions have brought the issue of data security to the forefront for many organizations. While logs and reporting are standard for structured databases such as CRM’s etc., unstructured data (documents, emails) is largely unmonitored and unsecured.

“There is a huge increase in volume of people who are now working remotely and accessing the most sensitive information that organizations hold. In order to remain compliant to the plethora of regulatory standards facing organizations, they must show that they continued to follow best practice in how they collect, process and secure data.”

85% of IT professionals report additional challenges around security as a result of Covid-19 (TechRepublic)

As we navigate the new normal which consists of a dramatic increase in home workers, it is imperative that these risks are addressed in a timely manner. Security measures such as VPN, anti- virus etc. are a logical first step for most companies, however the issue of unstructured data remains largely unaddressed.

Getvisibility uses a dual approach to effectively address this issue. Data is classified and secured on creation through the Getvisibility Synergy agent, while the Getvisibility Focus platform discovers, classifies and protects large repositories of legacy data. Through state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms Getvisibility provides unparalleled accuracy and speed without affecting performance. Getvisibility’s AI powered reporting also gives companies an understanding of their posture in relation to:

• Governance and Compliance

• Redundant, Obsolete and Trivial Data

• Data Security

• Intellectual Property Protection

• Risk Analysis

• Permission Management

For more information on how Getvisibility can transform your organizations data security, contact our experts today! Email: contact@getvisibility.com

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