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As remote work environments become the norm for millions of employees around the world, companies are having to pay extra attention to the technologies their workforces are using. Malicious actors have seized upon the COVID-19 pandemic, launching new phishing campaigns and adapting their social engineering tactics to prey on first-time remote workers. During the first four months of 2020, researchers at McAfee recorded a 630% increase in remote attacks against cloud service targets. This uptick in cyberattacks is particularly troubling given that cloud-based services and applications have been vital to the productivity of off-site employees during the lockdown.

Security compliance in the COVID-19 era

The rapid transition to remote work has revealed gaps in many enterprises’ network, hardware and software security practices. As more employees access private networks on their own devices, IT administrators have struggled to insulate sensitive data from cyber criminals. Organizations new to remote work had to quickly integrate a patchwork of remote access technologies and security protocols that “afforded little protection,” noted Security Magazine. What’s more, a lack of visibility and control over employee-owned devices has made it difficult to maintain continuous security compliance across all departments. 

While many business leaders are optimistic that the COVID-19 pandemic is on the downswing, research from McKinsey & Company suggests the eventual return to normalcy is still a long way off. Even after the health crisis has subsided, remote work will continue to be a common practice among knowledge workers. To set