cyber trends expecting their organisations to work from home permanently .
The research suggests very few organisations will return to a prepandemic way of working , with just 7 % stating they expect most staff to work from physical office locations permanently . Across the board , CISOs are anticipating a disparate workforce , facing the challenge of securing employees working either permanently remotely , permanently in the workplace , and some who will continue to work in a hybrid way .
Across the industries surveyed , respondents in financial services were most likely to state that once restrictions have eased , they expect their organisation to work in a hybrid way ( 52 %), and least likely to expect a long-term move to permanent home working . Non-profit and public sector CISOs on the other hand were the most likely to state that once restrictions have eased , they expect their organisation to work from home permanently ( 42 %).
Looking at the potential challenges associated with a disparate workforce , all ( 100 %) CISOs surveyed said they face both security and compliance barriers to the potential permanent enablement of hybrid working . Of these challenges , the top barriers for CISOs are productivity ( 44 %), connectivity and reliability ( 43 %) and data leakage ( 43 %).
The road ahead
Looking ahead , the majority ( 85 %) of CISOs believe managing cyber-risk will become more complicated . For example , nearly half ( 44 %) think their company should introduce a rigorous enforcement of cybersecurity policies and sanctions to encourage tighter cybersecurity practices .
Other reasons given include managing a remote workforce is more difficult ( 30 %); the threat surface is more disparate and diverse due to hybrid or remote working ( 26 %); it will be less clear where the end-points data is ( 24 %); and there are more threats to worry about ( 20 %).
In terms of future measures , over half ( 53 %) of CISOs surveyed said they will ensure their organisation ’ s information is protected when laptops and other devices return to the office or connect to the corporate network with network segmentation . Moreover , the same percentage ( 53 %) said they will protect their organisation ’ s information with proactive remote patching / security management and almost half ( 47 %) said they would do this with Access Control .
CISOs are also expecting a bigger compliance headache ahead , with half ( 49 %) expecting new legislation around the health and safety of their home workers and the same percentage expecting control around remote monitoring of staff .
Almost half ( 45 %) of the CISOs surveyed expect there to be control around home working hours and the same percentage expect more complexity around workers ’
All ( 100 %) CISOs surveyed said they face both security and compliance barriers to the potential permanent enablement of hybrid working . right to privacy . What is interesting to note here is that CISOs surveyed are more likely to anticipate the monitoring of staff , rather than their right to privacy .
A silver lining
On a positive note , the vast majority ( 89 %) of respondents believe that cybersecurity has become more of a priority to their Board in the last 12 months , and CISOs are investing in new technologies to help address these emerging challenges .
A total of 35 % are looking at automation , 34 % at Machine Learning and the same percentage ( 34 %) at network detection and response .
Some ( 32 %) CISOs are looking to deploy Zero Trust architecture and the same percentage ( 32 %) said endpoint detection and response . More than a quarter ( 27 %) of CISOs said they are looking to deploy AI .
Ian Jennings , Co-founder of BlueFort Security , said : “ The fact that CISOs have had a particularly tough time these past 18 months isn ’ t a surprise .
“ What shocked me was the severity of the impact . It ’ s a sorry tale of a lack of visibility – of their infrastructure , their devices and their people – which has led to poor intelligence and restricted control . The positive takeaway from this is the recognition that new technology will play a significant role when it comes to redressing the balance .” u www . intelligentciso . com
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