April/May 2020 - BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS

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14 BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS April/May 2020 SPECIAL FOCUS – COVID-19 Securing systems during Covid-19 Many organisations have taken prudent steps to reduce the likelihood of Covid-19 spreading by allowing as many staff as possible to work from home. Working from home (WFH) or remote working may be an established practice for many, but for others it may be a new way of doing business. This article presents the security aspects organisations should consider. Working through the effects of Covid-19 HUMAN RESOURCES > BY KELLIE HAMLETT Director, Recruitment & HR Specialist, Talent ID Recruitment Ltd. She can be contacted on kellie@talentid.co.nz or 027 227 7736 Working from home presents two broad concerns: • Cyber-security. Ensuring systems are available and information is protected, and • Physical security. Ensuring offices and assets are protected during reduced staffing. Cyber-security Remote workers may be operating outside of the security provided by the enterprise. If devices, such as laptops, have not been provisioned securely it increases a number of risks including the possibility of malware and the exposure of sensitive data. Many exisiting security practices are still relevant, more so for personal devices that may be being used for work purposes. • Patching and updating is critical. Personal devices may not be automatically updating, including anti-malware. These should be enabled to keep software up to date. • Multi-factor or Two-factor authentication should SECURITY > BY JONATHON BERRY Jonathon Berry is a consulting partner with New Zealand security consultants InPhySec, based in Tauranga. He can be reached at jonathon.berry@inphysec.co.nz. be utilised for accounts. Where not possible, ensure credentials (passwords) used are robust and sufficiently complex. • Users should not be given account privileges beyond what they need to get their job done. • Connections from home into corportate environments should be via secure (encrypted) means. Capacity may need to be increased to deal with higher load. • Logging and monitoring of critical assets should be increased. Any suspicious activity should be investigated promptly. • Maintain or increase levels of user awareness to threats, scams and social engineering. There are parties who will seek to exploit the current situation. If in doubt, call people before commiting actions such as payments. • Consider the use of cloudbased security services that can be deployed rapidly and accessed without the need for face-to-face interactions. Equally, these may be de-provisoned when staff return to corporate security environments. • Ensure back-ups are maintained and that these are not vulnerable to ransomware or cryptoware attacks. • Utilise community resources such as NZ’s NCSC and CERT. Physical security Opportunistic theft may increase, while there are reduced numbers of public and staff in the vicinity of offices. Organisations should consider: • Putting attractive items out of view. • Ensuring disk encryption is enabled on devices left in offices and credentials are required for access. • Increasing guard patrols. • Keeping security systems armed and not automatically disabled during business hours, including doors. • Ensuring response functions are in place. If an alarm is triggered, someone will react to it. • Determining if visitors, such as cleaners, are necessary. In my March article on business continuity and contingency planning, I broadly covered aspects around having a plan in place for times of crisis. The time of crisis is here and it’s hit hard and quite quickly. Sectors that have already been struggling, have little resilience left to keep trading, and the coming months ahead are going to be tough. Thankfully, the government has come forward quickly with a support package for businesses. It provides a breather, but whether it will be enough, only time will tell. Businesses are having to respond quickly as the situation we are all faced with changes on a day-to-day basis. Many businesses I have talked to and are working with are reducing hours, and looking at alternative working options before redundancies. The first step, and I’m sure most employers will have done this already, is having an honest and open conversation in good faith with staff around the Covid- 19 situation and what it means for the business. Unlike any other event, it’s a time for people to work together, share concerns and fears and look at how we can work together to keep businesses fluid. It’s also important that, even though we are moving through unprecedented times, good process is still followed. Employment agreements and workplace policies set out the basis of the employment relationship and the process for changing the terms. As employers we do have the right to make changes within our business and structure it as we see appropriate, but genuine business reasons must prevail. Document all decisions As always, employers need to document all decisions and reasons about any change that might result in an employee’s job being significantly changed, hours being reduced, or an employee being made redundant. The present situation being that most employers will be citing financial downturns, which are easy tracked and documented. There still needs to be a consultation process. It may be that because of the developing situation that this can’t be as long as it would usually be, but there is a still a duty of being fair and reasonable. This process would include giving affected employees information about the suggested change and an opportunity to provide feedback on it. Currently, along with the When it comes time to move forward again we are – more than ever – going to need the right people in our businesses.” amount of panic buying, a lot of employers are also panicking about their financial forecasts and rightly so. Some have already been struggling for months and this situation will make their businesses untenable. However, where possible I would urge businesses to take up the government support package on offer. Where you can, reduce hours rather than make employees redundant and look at alternative ways of working. I know this isn’t possible for some businesses. But when Covid-19 disappears, we need to get businesses and the economy moving again. Staff are assets and good people are hard to come by. With restrictions on immigration, the skill shortages are going to be even more apparent. When it comes time to move forward again we are – more than ever – going to need the right people in our businesses.
April/May 2020 BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS 15 Covid-19 – Market contagion? Market Update (Please note this column was prepared on 17 March, 2020) In the last few weeks global sharemarkets have substantially retraced their early momentum for the month of January and the latter stages of last year. In the early period of the Covid-19 outbreak, financial markets seemed to blissfully ignore the progression of the virus. However, we are now in a period of daily market volatility as investors gauge the flow-on economic impacts and whether the recent sell-off presents buying opportunities. The catalyst for the sell-off has been two-fold. Firstly, the progression of With further rate cuts being implemented by Central Banks to try and curb the impact of Covid-19, low interest rates will be the norm for the immediate future. the virus outside of China and secondly, a steady stream of companies beginning to downgrade forecast earnings. The initial outbreak of the virus in China caused a major disruption to international supply chains, although the situation in that country seems to be improving. Perhaps the biggest factor in market performance over the next three to six months will be the as yet unknown impact on company earnings. It is possible we will see a rally if the spread of the virus can be contained, followed by dips as the market reacts to further earnings downgrades. All of this uncertainly begs the question: “How should we react?” Turbulent markets always make us feel like we should “do” something. Sometimes (like the 2008 financial crisis), we should. However, often sitting back and monitoring the situation is the best option. We think that is the case now. Since 2008 there have been 19 sell-offs greater than five percent. The current downturn WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR MONEY > BY BRETT BELL-BOOTH Investment Adviser with Forsyth Barr Limited in Tauranga, and an Authorised Financial Adviser. Phone (07) 577 5725 or email brett.bell-booth@forsythbarr.co.nz. is now classified as a bear market, having retraced more than 20 percent from its peak (at the time of writing, the sharemarket was down 21 percent. Every sell-off is serious – from Greece teetering on the brink of complete collapse, to the US Government sovereign downgrade in 2011. However, since December 2008, the US sharemarket has risen well over 200 percent, excluding dividends. In other words, reacting to a crisis by selling shares is often a poor decision. The extent of market contagion relative to the level of viral contagion is determined by a combination of investor sentiment and factual information. An objective evaluation of your investment goals will ensure that your portfolio is well-positioned to weather any potential storm. As has been the theme in recent years, low interest rates continue to limit options for investors. With further rate cuts being implemented by Central Banks to try and curb the impact of Covid-19, low interest rates will be the norm for the immediate future. Whether you are an existing investor or considering an investment in the capital markets for the first time, get in touch with Forsyth Barr. Source: Forsyth Barr Focus, Special Report, February 2020. This column is general in nature and is not personalised investment advice. This column has been prepared in good faith based on information obtained from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. Disclosure Statements for Forsyth Barr Authorised Financial Advisers are available on request and free of charge. Making sense of COVID-19 Committed to supporting our community and clients during this challenging and uncertain time. WAVE25599 Young Read Woudberg Limited 13 McLean Street, Tauranga 3110 12A Oxford Street, Te Puke 3119 P 07 578 0069 E accountants@yrw.co.nz W www.yrw.co.nz
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April/May 2020 - BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS

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