Washing Your Hands of Bad (Cyber) Hygiene Practices

In just six short months, COVID-19 has transformed the way the world works and has presented unfathomable challenges, leaving many businesses suffering in its wake. However, it’s paramount that we continue to be resilient and tackle these challenges head-on, no matter how difficult or impossible they may seem.

While COVID-19 has forced us to be more conscious of our hygiene practices both in our homes and offices, it’s also given businesses the time to focus on other aspects of hygiene in their business – and I’m not talking about social distancing, wearing masks, or sanitizing cubicles.

As corporations shift the way they conduct business – most of whom have had to make a transition from brick-and-mortar businesses to the online space seemingly overnight – they have an opportunity to focus on another aspect of hygiene: their cyber hygiene.

How can organizations improve their cyber hygiene?

COVID-19 has forced many businesses to re-evaluate their cyber hygiene practices in light of employees no longer being constrained to a physical location. This has included:

• Updating outdated business continuity plans
• Implementing, testing, and adjusting disaster recovery plans
• Completing long-overdue security awareness training courses
• Testing remote access security controls to ensure the security of all new WFH employees
• Engaging in penetration testing to validate security efforts
• Assessing cloud security and/or mapping a cloud migration strategy

What does the post-pandemic world look like?

Businesses should consider taking a look at their strategic initiatives going forward post-pandemic - specifically, making sure cybersecurity is a main focus.

Regardless of whether a business takes large or small steps towards improving their cyber hygiene, taking the initiative now will prove to be fruitful later. In the post-pandemic world, businesses are going to be fighting to stay afloat, and having a robust cybersecurity strategy will play a critical role in helping organizations succeed.

Why? Because people are yearning for peace of mind right now, and businesses can give that to them by proving they’re committed to keeping them secure. Businesses can do their part in controlling what they can control right now, as opposed to focusing on the challenges that are simply out of their hands.