Penny smart and dollar stupid: IT jobs slashed in US, UK, Europe to cut costs – just when we need staff the most
- Reference: 1589228712
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/05/11/it_staff_get_the_boot/
- Source link:
A survey of 1,116 senior business decision makers in Europe and the US and found that 37 per cent had axed IT staff since the pandemic emerged earlier this year.In addition 47 per cent have frozen IT budgets for the foreseeable future, due to COVID-19-inspired revenue worries.
And that's despite 41 per cent admitting their systems for dealing with home-bound employees are not compliant with the General Data Protection Act, and 45 per cent anticipating a loss of data during the health crisis due to inadequately secured devices. (While GDPR is a European regulation, it applies to US companies doing business there.)
Looking for a job? We're running [2]weekly lists of open positions in the IT world, from engineering and software development to server administration. If you want to advertise a technology role at your organization during the pandemic, [3]email us and we'll list it for free: no catch, no snark. We're here to help.
The survey also found 44 per cent of companies know that staff members are using outdated versions of Zoom – [4]savaged recently for shoddy security – and 47 per cent have allowed staff to purchase their own laptops and tablets in order to work from home, many of which won't be defended to the extent demanded by corporate policy.
Last month, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), said in a [5]joint alert that they're seeing "a growing use of COVID-19-related themes by malicious cyber actors," and that "the surge in teleworking has increased the use of potentially vulnerable services."
As coronavirus catches tech CEOs with their pants down, IBM's Ginni Rometty warns of IT's new role post-pandemic [6]READ MORE
"It beggars belief that businesses are slashing IT staff at a time when digital skills are so critical for delivering effective remote working systems," said Andy Harcup, VP at security biz Absolute Software, in a canned statement.
"It’s also worrying that such a high proportion of companies are allowing employees to share confidential company data on personal devices, using outdated apps as well as knowingly operating in breach of GDPR rules."
Underscoring the security challenges accompanying staff cuts and reallocation, [7]a survey of 256 cybersecurity professionals released last month by the International Information System Security Certification Consortium (ISC)² found that 47 per cent said they had been reassigned to IT support roles during the pandemic, to accommodate the need for handle questions from home-based workers.
And 23 per cent said their organization has seen more cybersecurity incidents since remote work became the norm, with some reporting twice as many. ®
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[1] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/19/shetland_space_centre/
[2] https://www.theregister.co.uk/Tag/job%20ads
[3] mailto:regjobs@sitpub.com
[4] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/04/03/dont_use_zoom_if_privacy/
[5] https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/alerts/aa20-099a
[6] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/05/07/rometty_new_it_coronavirus/
[7] https://www.isc2.org/News-and-Events/Press-Room/Posts/2020/04/28/ISC2-Survey-Finds-Cybersecurity-Professionals-Being-Repurposed-During-COVID-19-Pandemic
[8] https://go.theregister.co.uk/tl/1936/-8553/legacy-modernization-finding-your-way-with-low-code?td=wptl1936
I agree risking a GDPR fine isn't going to enter into their calculations now and it probably didn't before. There's always budget to pay the fine even if there isn't budget to comply in the first place.
But being in a situation where their operations have become more complex doesn't make sense to cut down. The probably explanation is that manglements don't realise the added complexity and vulnerabilities they've taken on. They're not prepared for the budget to pay to support it - there may come a day when things go so badly wrong there won't be a budget bigi enough to fix it
The survey also found 44 per cent of companies know that staff members are using outdated versions of Zoom
Not for much longer... After 30th May Zoom is switching to AES256-GCM following criticism of their use of ECB mode (see https://blog.filippo.io/the-ecb-penguin/ )...
It sounds like users will be forced to upgrade or lose service.
...have laid off or furloughed IT staff based on coronavirus cost concerns
I do question whether it's fair to count furloughed staff in these figures though - this implies that it is intended for them to return to work once it is safe to do so and isn't really comparable to laying off those people.
Typical
One wonders how many have been furloughed in upper management or legal or marketing?
If years of El Reg's coverage has taught us anything, it's that IT begs for scraps from the corporate table and given the choice between cutting IT costs and improving IT capabilities the CEO's answer is all too predictable.
The unfurloughed lawyers will argue for delays in requirements due to COVID-19, the unfurloughed marketeers will downplay any security problems and condemn hackers who would do this during the crisis, and the unfurloughed executives will self quarantine on their estates. Cest la vie.
"such a high proportion of companies are allowing employees to share confidential company data on personal devices, using outdated apps as well as knowingly operating in breach of GDPR rules."
For companies that weren't prepared (most of them?) it's a matter of doing ANYTHING necessary to continue business operations immediately, or else having to close up shop entirely and everyone finding new jobs. Given that, risking a GDPR fine doesn't seem a bad choice...
Of course they've put themselves in this position by not having working DR plans, and not having enough IT staff to do things properly, etc. But right now, companies everywhere are breaking all kinds of rules to varying degrees, and just hoping their luck holds out and the fallout won't be completely devestating. Look no further than COURTS using Zoom...