HP Innovation Journal Issue 15: Summer 2020 | Page 63

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY HENRY CUNNINGHAM
Companies are not only reeling from the economic fallout of the
pandemic, but some have also weathered cyberattacks related to
COVID-19 that were meant to exploit vulnerabilities in remote
work infrastructure. According to Trend Micro research, there were
nearly 50,000 hits on malware sites that used COVID-19 fears to get
clicks in the first quarter of the year alone.
“It’s easier to secure everyone when they’re all sitting in the
same office,” says Michael Howard, HP’s Chief Security Consultant
for Print. “But when you start looking at everyone working from
home, the complexity of keeping everybody secure becomes much
more difficult.”
The rush to facilitate remote work inevitably led to vulnerabilities
or omissions. As businesses and institutions prepare for long-term
remote working, they will need to review their security tools, technology
choices, policies, and procedures. Here are some of the best
ways to adapt.
Reinforce digital and behavioral defenses
Even before the coronavirus, more than a third of CIOs said they
felt the biggest security threat to their business was employees
who didn’t take the proper security measures. And security is not
just an issue for large enterprises—according to a 2019 report from
Verizon, 43% of data breaches target small- and medium-size businesses.
Working from home without an IT department, with the
added stress of trying to wrangle kids who might also be learning
remotely for the foreseeable future, will only make it harder to
maintain the best digital security practices long term.
“We know workers who work from home tend to be more lax
about security,” says Howard, who heads up HP’s company-wide
security outreach to support customers working remotely. “Home
workers have a sense of security based on being home, and lots of
security awareness training will be required to ensure end users
have the heightened security required for this new norm.”
INNOVATION/ SUMMER 2020
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