The pandemic has undoubtedly brought about massive changes in the professional environment. The relocation of employees, digitalization of key processes and the increasing use of online tools to facilitate these, have marked a new era in business environment. While it is obvious that your company has been part of this digital transition, the transition of security processes is often overlooked. Have your security methods transitioned equally?

Take a moment to ask yourself the next three questions:

Compared to one year ago, how many of your employees are working from home?

Restrictions regarding travel necessity have affected every employer and its employees, causing a significant amount of people to work from home. The relocation of people, their assets and the intellectual property out of workplaces into their own homes, is a remarkable and sudden change to the office environment we were all used to.

Compared to one year ago, which of your company processes, such as sales, meetings and even get-togethers, are now taking place online?

Apart from physically moving from an office to a dining table, the workspace itself has notably moved online. The internet has now become the main facilitator of key business processes such as sales, meetings and even after work get-togethers. This digital transformation process was massively accelerated in 2020, stimulated by the pandemic.

Compared to one year ago, how many online tools have you started using?

There is an ever-increasing array of ready-to-use online tools and platforms available to facilitate the digitalization of everyday work processes. Your company, undoubtedly, implemented the use of some online tools and platforms as a convenient way to ensure business continuity in an online environment.

How does this transition pose additional threats to your information security?

Relocation employees

The physical relocation of employees triggers more risks than you might initially think. People with access to your company’s intellectual property, your crown jewels, could now be authorized to work with sensitive information from their own homes. Insufficient physical security of the new workplace, the inability to supervise employees and personal devices used to access sensitive information, are merely a few examples amongst many risks that are created with the relocation of the physical workplace.

Online processes

While taking away some risks related to tangible work processes, the introduction of the processes to an online environment creates new risks. Awareness and resilience regarding (cyber)threats tend to go hand in hand and are both noticeably insufficient. Employees might not be aware of threats related to sharing and discussing sensitive information online. They could, unintentionally, authorize third parties to access your crown jewels.

Online tools

Online tools provide a great platform and support to digitize your office environment. However, convenience seems to be prioritized over security. Insufficient research is conducted before applying an online tool in the online work environment. How secure is the information shared on or via this tool? Should you trust any third party with this information?

Over the past year, the world has witnessed a tremendous increase in the digitalization of professional processes. After one year into the pandemic, we should evaluate whether security methods have transitioned equally. Underestimation of threats to information security is prevalent and many risks that come with relocation, into the living room as well as into cyberspace, are often overlooked.

We offer several services to mitigate risks triggered by the transformation your company has undergone over the last year. Information Security Workshops, during which your employees learn about the role they play in your company’s information security and the consequences of a seemingly small mistake, will increase awareness on the protection of your crown jewels. Additionally, we offer a personalized information security scan and (in-)employment screenings, amongst many other services that will support the security of your company’s crown jewels and related threats and risks.