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EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
ALAIN PENEL , REGIONAL VICE PRESIDENT – MIDDLE EAST , FORTINET
An unforeseeable shift in network
structures and attack strategies has been dropped on the cybersecurity industry in 2020 . As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to take its toll on organisations and individuals around the globe , the industry is now dealing with a threat landscape that ’ s become more intense , complex and saturated than ever before . Attackers are now more targeted toward the remote worker . Many attackers are also using Machine Learning to rapidly craft , test and distribute messages with increasingly realistic visual content that triggers emotional distress in recipients .
Cyber criminals have also grown to understand technology better and have access to more sophisticated resources than they had in the past , making the task of protecting distributed resources more challenging than ever . Organisations in Africa have witnessed a significant increase in cyberattacks across industries – some of which have caused financial and reputational losses .
The role of the CIO is rapidly changing in many organisations . There is not a business strategy in organisations that does not involve some technology aspect and digital innovation is often the primary ingredient underlying the business initiative .
The CIO is no longer an operational executive , but an orchestration executive . In a rapidly evolving marketplace , creating new approaches to product development , customer engagement and operations can mean the difference between success and failure for the company . Three security challenges threaten these initiatives :
• An expanding attack surface . CIOs fear that responses to an expanded attack surface will result in the slowing of DI initiatives-either by reducing network performance or mandating manual security processes that interrupt progress
• An advanced threat landscape . Cybercriminals are delivering attacks with increasing volume , velocity , and sophistication , rendering the manual security processes of the past completely inadequate . CIOs can feel overwhelmed by these threats-especially at organisations where their visibility is indirect
• Security complexity . The first two challenges naturally lead to this one . As the attack surface grows and threats become more sophisticated , organisations scramble to provide new protections . Often , this results in the deployment of point products that cover specific new elements of the attack surface
Aside from the security challenges , transitioning most or all of an organisation ’ s employees to remote work creates significant security challenges for any organisation . An organisation ’ s Business Continuity plan should take these challenges into account and include solutions to address these new risks .
The first step in a secure telework strategy is ensuring that remote workers have the ability to connect securely to the
enterprise network . There are challenges both in securing remote connectivity and in maintaining user productivity over the remote connection .
These have to do with the home networks , the users themselves and the network equipment at the corporate office . Key considerations must include the fact that one size does not fit all and security protocols must be set based on individual roles and user types such as general workers , power users and super users .
Clearly , there is an obvious skills gap in the cybersecurity space as organisations struggle with retaining , recruiting and hiring talent . The pandemic has amplified the skills crisis and bridging the skills gap requires the development of new candidates through education and upskilling current IT professionals .
In addition , ensuring cybersecurity policies are in place during a crisis to enable incidence response , provide support for a remote workforce operating on their own devices and provide patching compliance to ensure remote workers are not exposing the network to cyber-risk is critical . www . intelligentcio . com INTELLIGENTCIO
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