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In some way, everyone is affected by COVID-19 on a personal and professional level. Manufacturers must shift their production lines to change output as needed. The supply chain must pivot for changing demand. Healthcare providers must shift to telehealth, with an influx of illness testing and flu season quickly approaching.
Companies across all industries are grappling with team members working from home. They walk a tightrope between work life and home life, all while trying not to affect the customer experience.
It’s a lot to take on. Many companies focus their energies on streamlining workflows and finding new processes that make sense for their new structures. While adapting to this new reality is great, some businesses are focusing on how to give people access from home now and worrying about security details later. But if you don’t mitigate potential security risks today, it could have negative long-term effects.
Here are five reasons why you should care about security in the middle of a pandemic:
1. Data Breaches Aren’t New
Here’s the truth of the matter: Data breaches occurred across the board before the pandemic even began. A study from professional services firm Sikich stated that half of the companies they surveyed in 2019 reported they suffered a data breach or attack in the past year.
Keeper Security reported that nearly two-thirds of healthcare organizations worldwide have experienced a cyberattack in their lifetimes, and more than half of them were attacked within the last 12 months. So even though there are a lot of elements at play right now, security is of the utmost importance.
2. Criminals See Opportunities
You may be taking things one day at a time and trying to get your team through this challenging time — but bad actors see these more chaotic times as opportunities.
3. Software Integrations Need a Security-First Approach
Integrating your technologies is great. It allows you to break down silos and get a full view of your business. But the more data you connect, the more vulnerabilities may exist — if you don’t implement a security-first approach.
You may suddenly have a distributed workforce. Team members who normally work within your secure brick-and-mortar walls now access information from their home offices, their cell phones at parks with the kids, or the patios of coffee shops — and you have to account for that in your approach to security.
4. Workflow Efficiencies Must Be Safe
You can ensure an experience for remote team members that is both convenient and secure by consolidating logins and requiring multi-factor authentication at login. You can consolidate logins via a cloud directory service, which integrates not only with applications but also devices and other IT resources for single sign-on (SSO). That way, team members don’t have to remember a wide variety of usernames and passwords for each of their services, and access is protected by other factors.
5. Ensure Security + Sustainability
In a way, there are two types of vendors:
- Those that build apps and solutions for a window of opportunity, later forgotten.
- Those that embrace sustainability. They know that even though some things work well today, they need to evolve to meet new regulations and market requirements.
Work with vendors that embrace sustainability, have their finger on the pulse of evolving technologies, and improve their products accordingly.
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It’s important to strike a balance between convenience and security. During the pandemic and beyond, you want your processes to run smoothly for your team, to make sure they best support your customers. While streamlining processes is a great approach, you shouldn’t do it at the expense of your security.
Learn more about FayeBSG
Want to learn more about software integrations and the importance of security? Contact FayeBSG, a JumpCloud partner, today.
Learn more about JumpCloud
JumpCloud offers a Partner Program for managed service providers and resellers, complete with competitive margins and co-marketing opportunities. Learn more about integrating JumpCloud Directory-as-a-Service® into your offering to clients.
