DEFENDING THE HYBRID LANDSCAPE

BEN CARR, CHIEF INFORMATION SECURITY OFFICER, QUALYS, DISCUSSES WHY ENTERPRISES NEED TO UPDATE THEIR CYBERSECURITY BEST PRACTICES TO PROTECT THE NEW HYBRID WORKPLACE.

- BEN CARR

Although it is hard to imagine right now, we will enter a post-COVID-19 world — we shall emerge from our cocoons to be faced with the question of what we do next. The pandemic forced us to experiment at scale with technologies that were previously mere curios. Remote working has allowed entire economies to mitigate the rigours of the coronavirus, and across the Middle East, enterprises are discovering that operations can tick along quite efficiently under the new normal.

The UAE government has long made it clear it is in favour of a surge in remote working. The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation has cited benefits such as reductions in transportation expenses, pollution and traffic congestion, as well as more job opportunities for those living in remote areas. Just this past March, in the very early days of the pandemic, Statista reported that more than a third of Gulf companies (35 percent) were open to remote working. Around half of these (18 percent) were already working remotely and the other 17 percent were either considering it or were starting soon. Necessity being the mother of invention, COVID accelerated this migration.

So, if remote working is here to stay, should we not be establishing new policies to cope with the hordes of bad actors we know are still out there? You can be sure that they know the old ways are unfit for purpose; and you can also be sure they know those ways are still in use.

Make a list