Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which was declared global pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020, has shifted fundamental paradigms regarding how we work and live. This article considers the implications of pandemics on digital security, risk, and privacy — focusing specifically on the challenges organizations face when trying to steer through these particularly turbulent times with regard to three specific areas:
- Workforce Transformation: During pandemics organizations will see radical shifts in their workforce, including a substantial increase in remote workers together with a potential shift in roles and responsibilities.
- Security Transformation: Pandemics will force organizations to rethink their cybersecurity strategy and reassess risk — specifically as it relates to protecting their digital assets.
- Business Transformation: Pandemics alter how organizations must think about business risk — including third party and business continuity risk.
A subsequent article will discuss the future — what we should be consider from a security, risk, and privacy perspective in a “Post-COVID” world.
In the wake of pandemics…
