Cyber Defense eMagazine January 2021 Edition

Businesses Should See Security as An Enabler of Digital
Transformation, Not A Hindrance
A distributed workforce has renewed the importance of security for all aspects of organizations’ technology estates
By Matt Gyde, CEO, Security Division at NTT Ltd.
The pandemic has put a spotlight on cybersecurity issues as businesses have moved to a distributed
workforce model. Many businesses found it difficult to move with agility to provide employees with the
devices and network infrastructure needed to operate and communicate seamlessly when COVID-19 first
hit.
In fact, according to NTT’s 2020 Intelligent Workplace Report ‘Shaping Employee Experiences for a
World Transformed’, in many cases, employees have been left to use their personal devices and
applications, increasing the risk of security vulnerabilities. Additionally, only 46.4% of global businesses
surveyed for the same report claimed they increased their IT security capabilities to keep their
organization and employees secure.
The rise in nefarious threats during the pandemic is clearly outlined in NTT’s Global Threat Intelligence
report as hackers seek to exploit the coronavirus-related panic. Attacks have included informationstealing
malware built into a fake World Health Organization (WHO) information app, while phishing
emails have offered in-demand items including face masks, hand sanitizer and Coronavirus tests. These
were so bad that the World Health Organization (WHO) called it an “infodemic.”
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