20 Aug 3 Lessons COVID-19 Taught Us About Cybersecurity
COVID-19 has changed the world we live in entirely. There is a direct correlation between the treatment of cybersecurity and COVID-19. These are three lessons that COVID-19 taught us about cybersecurity:
- People not heeding the COVID-19 warnings = people not heeding the cybersecurity warnings
- COVID-19 response = IT response to incident handling
- Wash your hands = Hover over and check the links
COVID-19, while dangerous to a lot of people, has not been taken seriously by everyone around the world. Just as we look to professional medical doctors and rely on them for advice, similar to what happens when a cybersecurity incident hits an organization, they seem to turn to cybersecurity professionals for support and guidance. This has reintroduced us to wash our hands and other basic hygiene concepts, similar to cyber hygiene concepts such as telling people not to click on links or open attachments in emails.
One common item that has surfaced is the need for hygiene, such as making sure people are washing their hands for twenty seconds. This type of hygiene is similar to the concept of cyber hygiene with security awareness training. It only takes a momentary lapse in judgment for you to click on a link and potentially infect your computer, just like not washing your hands after touching things at a public place could cause you to become infected with COVID-19.
It’s a lot of lather, rinse, repeat with the importance of washing your hands for protection from COVID-19. Still, like COVID-19, we need to provide on-going security awareness education to make sure we are providing the protection that we need to an attack. Users need to pay attention to security professionals and have the awareness to understand and adapt to security events that occur within the organization. Just as we are operating more cautiously while understanding the risks associated with COVID-19, we should take the same precautions when it comes to cybersecurity.
In both scenarios, unfortunately, it took a significant event before action was taken to help remedy the situation and provide protection. We see this scenario too often, with businesses taking responsive steps, instead of being proactive about their cybersecurity protection. The key to both situations is knowing what to watch out for, following the guidelines, and staying educated on the changes. As you can see, there are several lessons that COVID-19 taught us about cybersecurity and how important it is. Want to learn how your business can be protective instead of reactive? Contact our team to get your free cybersecurity assessment today!