Conducted by Censuswide in July 2020, the Barracuda report, Brave the new normal: How companies in Asia-Pacific are overcoming security challenges in a remote workplace, revealed that 46% of organisations in the region do not have an up-to-date security strategy or solution covering all the vulnerabilities posed by remote working, while 54% admitted that security has taken a back seat in the shift to this mode of working.
Alarming trend
Additionally, 43% reported the lack of IT resources or time to upgrade their IT infrastructure in the shift to a remote working model.
The report revealed that 47% of APAC organizations surveyed cut their cybersecurity budgets to save costs as they responded to the pandemic.
This highlights the need for organizations to find ways to prioritize spending on critical controls, whether that involves consolidating vendors, investing in SaaS-based tools or assessing how automation could help free budget and resources for security.
This is critical given employees may often be more distracted when working remotely, coupled with a lack of protection on home devices and networks, making them more susceptible to cybersecurity attacks.
51% of organisations surveyed reported at least one data breach or cyber security incident since shifting to remote working, with 49% reporting that employees had experienced an increase in email phishing attacks. 61% are concerned about unknown threats that will cause business disruption in the next 6 months.
According to the report, 49% of respondents said their employees are not properly trained in the cyber risks associated with remote working.
In addition, 47% are not confident in the security of their web applications, which is another major target for malicious third parties seeking to access corporate data.
Good news?
The good news is that most APAC decision makers are aware of the problems relating to their remote working security posture and have a clear idea of how they can improve it.
77% believe that cross-industry collaboration is key to improving security standards.
79% said that they will need to upgrade their IT infrastructure to improve visibility and productivity.
73% plan to provide improved online cybersecurity training and awareness for remote working staff.
