A remote workforce brings countless security dangers

JITENDRA MISHRA
 VP (Group - CIO)
Alembic Pharmaceuticals

KEY PRIORITIES FOR 2021

Top priorities for IT teams in 2021 are digital transformation, cybersecurity and cloud/cloud migration, digital business acceleration, rightsizing support for remote and hybrid work, building supply chain resilience customer experience also near the top,

indicating the continued importance of a customer-centric attitude aimed at increasing customer retention, encouraging repeat business and driving up revenue..

. ADOPTING WORK-FROM ANYWHERE

WFH to become the new normal as organisations prepare for what life looks like in a post-pandemic world; one of the many issues they will have to address is IT security for home workers. A remote workforce comes with myriad dangers, with employees relying on their home networks – and sometimes their own devices – to complete tasks. Without the security protections that office systems afford us – such as firewalls and blacklisted IP addresses – and increased reliance on technology, we are far more vulnerable to cyber-attacks while WFH. Business leaders will look upon the IT fraternity to facilitate this mode of work but their worries of potential security breaches need to be addressed on top priority so that IT leaders succeed in meeting their expectations.

REDESIGNING IT & SECURITY STRATEGY

Traditional cyber threats or attacks have targeted information and communication infrastructure that usually result in economic loss. 1. Prioritize cybersecurity by setting up a security strategy to assess and classify the data you handle and the type of security you need to protect them. Run a security audit on a regular basis. 2. Focus on cybersecurity awareness. 3. Create a unique and strong password combination and complement it with two-factor authentication to access the system. 4. Invest in cybersecurity tools like antivirus software, firewall, and other privacy tools to automatically scan threats. 5. Have a strong backup policy. It will protect you from ransomware attacks. 6. Apply end-to-end encryption to all your confidential files. 7. Hack yourself! This will help you identify the vulnerabilities in the system. 8. Go beyond technical controls to build a holistic program that protects the enterprise. 9. Integrate cybersecurity with business strategy to build trust and co-create value.