COVID-19 has disrupted cybersecurity, too – here's how businesses can decrease their risk

COVID-19 is changing everything. Along with social distancing, obsessive sanitisation, broken supply chains, fragmented workforces and the rise of video meetings, the pandemic is driving acute systemic changes in consumer and business behavior. These changes are causing an outbreak of new and unanticipated business moments. The resolve to transform is palpable.

Businesses know they must rapidly innovate, take advantage of new digital tools and leverage cloud services to emerge from the crisis ahead of their competitors with momentum for the long-term transformation of their business in the altered global landscape.

This innovation is good news, but it is coming at a cost. As digital spreads its roots deeper, it also increases the risk and impact of cyberattacks.

The World Economic Forum’s COVID-19 Risks Outlook found 50% of enterprises were concerned about increased cyberattacks due to a shift in work patterns alone. These concerns are merited. Hasty and unplanned decisions related to digital transformations will add substantially to the spate of cybersecurity issues.

Cybersecurity matters even more given the increased dependency on digital infrastructure to ensure collective resilience. Many of the industries which are transforming serve critical functions – and a break in their supply chains could affect the movement and availability of life-saving drugs, components, equipment and raw materials.

The COVID-19 pandemic is driving technological transformation in three key areas – and there are three steps leaders must take to secure them.

Technological transformation will continue during the pandemic and long after. The challenge for global security is that this large-scale, unplanned digitisation is supported by nimble but relatively immature business models and operations.

We see this in three key transformations:

These three trends represent a revolution in terms of how people connect to resources, creating an even more connected world. But they are also low-hanging fruit for cybercriminals. This is especially true because, at an ecosystem level, cybersecurity resources are still not available at scale, and remain concentrated in the most well-resourced and mature markets.

Leaders must start taking a systemic approach to security while also transforming their businesses.

For leaders tasked with securing their businesses from both market forces and cyberattacks, the approach needs to be timely and staged in three phases:

COVID-19 is changing the technology culture and infrastructure of every medium-sized and large organisation faster than any known event or phenomenon. This means changes will continue coming – and hackers will continue to target our growing dependence on digital tools. Businesses that focus on a return to “near-normal” will be investing time, effort and money in a battle long lost.

The pandemic presents an opportunity for full-blown innovation, a dramatic shift in perspective and the adoption of safe and resilient operating processes. The intensity and emphasis an organisation brings to its cybersecurity strategy will determine if the opportunity adds to bottom lines – or turns into a business disaster.