The “Zero Trust” architecture and cloud-based technologies will continue to remain a mainstay for businesses’ cyber-security investments – claims the recent Microsoft study.
In light of the pandemic, cyber-security has become one of the top business agendas. Lately, the sudden shift of professionals from the office to the remote setup highlights a range of new cyber risks globally. Besides, most cybercriminals are now opportunistic and making the most of the situation.
Unsurprisingly, businesses are pressurized with more security threats since the outlook of remote work appears to go on indefinitely. Most organizations are adapting to this unprecedented scenario, re-prioritizing their tech investments and tracking projects that are aimed at shoring up the IT security.
Microsoft has recently conducted a security survey with nearly 800 business leaders from the US, UK, India, and Germany. The aim was to analyze and understand how the pandemic has/will influence the cyber-security ecosystem as we advance. This includes their plans for IT budgets, investments, and staffing.
Microsoft indicated that the ongoing COVID-19 crisis is accelerating the digital transformation of cyber-security across industries. A vast majority of businesses are increasingly relying on advanced technology and cloud to secure their assets and data. Simply put, COVID-19 is driving the future of cyber-security.
Cloud is Security Imperative
The study revealed that successful phishing attacks had been reported in considerably higher numbers from companies – which described their resources as on-premises rather than being cloud-based. Concurrently, about 40% of that businesses indicated that they were prioritizing cloud security investments to reduce the risk of breaches.
This is followed by information and data security (28%) and anti-phishing tools (26%) measures. Altogether, the widespread crisis has highlighted the need for integrated security spanning endpoints into the cloud. This has made cloud a critical subset of an organization’s upcoming cyber-security investments.
Read More: COVID-19 – Three Cyber Security Changes to Look Out For
The Zero Trust Journey Is On Priority
In recent months, “Zero Trust” has shifted from an option to a priority! CISOs are sought to get a hold on the influx of potentially unsecured devices logging in the corporate networks from employees’ locations.
With the rise of remote work culture, about 51% of the business leaders reported that they are speeding up the deployment of the Zero Trust capabilities. In its essence, Microsoft noted this would ultimately become the industry standard, as most organizations are in the process of adopting advanced “Zero Trust” approaches.
Read More: Enterprise Bot Security is Essential Especially amid COVID-19
Cyber Resilience is Essential for Business Operations
Cyber-security will strengthen most of the process of businesses – provided the remote working model continues as predicted. As per Microsoft, cloud-based technology can make it easier for businesses to plan out cyber-security threats and contingency plans.
Hence, to ensure resiliency amid the new normal, businesses have to evaluate their risk regularly. Besides, their ability to execute cyber-security strategies should incorporate the blend of human intelligence as well as technology.
