Whatever 'normal' is, global CEOs don't expect to see it return before 2022 and are ploughing funds into security
- Reference: 1616572684
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/03/24/global_ceos_security_pandemic/
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Almost half (45 per cent) of bosses surveyed by the accountancy biz said they don't expect a return to "normal" by next year. A further third (31 per cent) were more upbeat, expecting normality to be restored by the end of this year.
[1]
Any possible return to commuting and dismal Pret lunches will almost certainly hinge on the successful rollout of vaccines, with 90 per cent of chief execs surveyed saying they're contemplating asking employees to report in-person when they've had the jab.
But it's not a sure bet, and 34 per cent said they were afraid of vaccine hesitancy among their employees thanks to online misinformation and mixed messages about the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab.
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With no definitive end to remote working, CEOs are increasingly focusing on data protection and resilience, and 52 per cent described data security measures as their primary area of investment. This is an about-face from data seen at the start of the pandemic, when three-quarters of IT professionals quizzed by Sectigo claimed they [3]had not improved their security positioning , and 43 per cent of UK respondents said they'd been forced to cancel planned security initiatives.
50%+ of our office seats are going remote, say majority of surveyed Register readers. Hi security, bye on-prem [4]READ MORE
This affirmed [5]findings from McKinsey published last July , which said that 70 per cent of CISOs expected their budgets to shrink during 2020, with funds earmarked for redteaming and "war games" directed to other security fundamentals like VPN access. This varied sector to sector, with industries like healthcare and financial services expecting a modest uptick in spending as hospitality and retail braced for cutbacks.
Gartner's mid-2020 forecast was [6]slightly less bearish , expecting a 2.4 per cent spending growth driven by heightened demand for cloud and application security services, albeit with some sectors (such as network security appliances and consumer security software) shrinking.
Now that's a somewhat unexpected insider threat: Zoombombings mostly blamed on rogue participants, unique solution offered [7]READ MORE
The pandemic has posed its own set of security challenges, from [8]state-sponsored incursions against healthcare and pharmaceutical systems , to an [9]increased uptick in credential-stuffing attacks against retailers and businesses in the hospitality sector. Additionally, IT bods have been forced to consider threats they perhaps hadn't previously such as the possibility an important conference call may be " [10]zoombombed ".
In a canned statement, Mary O'Connor, interim CEO at KPMG, noted the optimistic sentiment expressed by many of the CEOs surveyed, emphasising that many had focused on building resilience across business processes.
"After steering their businesses through a year dominated by the pandemic, CEOs are shifting their plans from survival to revival," she claimed. "Many have already taken strong action to transform their operating model and as they plot their path through recovery, the pressure is on to keep the positive changes made during the pandemic, while mitigating the risks it has brought."
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Revival – and, for that matter, recovery – is no sure bet. With a third coronavirus wave breaking on European shores, maybe hold off on renewing that office lease and put that money in your CISO's back pocket instead. ®
Get our [12]Tech Resources
[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YFsb0Tdqmc-Tiy2Wv1RS9gAAAEs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YFsb0Tdqmc-Tiy2Wv1RS9gAAAEs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2020/06/22/sectigo_security_survey/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2020/08/20/new_normal_reader_research/
[5] https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/risk/our-insights/covid-19-crisis-shifts-cybersecurity-priorities-and-budgets
[6] https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2020-06-17-gartner-forecasts-worldwide-security-and-risk-managem
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2020/09/10/zoombombing_attacks_texas/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2020/05/05/coronavirus_research_hacking/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/21/akamai_retail_security_report/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2020/09/10/zoombombing_attacks_texas/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YFsb0Tdqmc-Tiy2Wv1RS9gAAAEs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The world has gone mad
Why on earth are we unable to have business as normal now? What is going on? We have had a minor infectious disease that has taken us back to the devastating plague year death rates of.... 2003. Smack on the thirty year average. Yet that blip in deaths - of the very old - is being used as a rationale for turning the world upside down. Why?
qui bono?
Re: The world has gone mad
Qui bono indeed.
Who benefits from the damaging garbage people like you spew?
Re: The world has gone mad
Yeah, because no one under 80 died from COVID, right? And all those 30-somethings, 20-somethings, children who died from it... they are fake news, didn't happen, right?.
Wrong. It's twats like you spreading misinformation about the severity, infectiousness and mortality of this "minor" disease that enable it to continue spreading.
The "blip" as you call it has only been restricted to around 2.6 million worldwide because of the global extreme measures taken.
As a percentage of the 7 billion people on the planet, that is tiny, almost insignificant. But that's statistics.
As an absolute number, which is the reality, it's an awful tragedy, one which I certainly hope never to see again in my lifetime, nor my kids' lifetimes.
Yes, lockdowns and restrictions are a burden, and we all want them gone as soon as is safe, but without these the death rates would have been way higher.
People with your attitude are not part of the solution. You're part of the problem.
Whatever "normal" or "new normal" turns out to be nobody can argue that spending on security isn't due. Well over-due in many cases. Or even too late.
90% of CEOs expecting return to 'normal' working
Thank heavens the place I work for has taken the experience of the last year and looks to be considering a new 'normal'.
It looks like the expectation is that, for most office staff, normal will be 40-80% home-based working with 60-20% office-based, depending on the requirements of individuals and their roles.
We've managed to grow and, in a lot of instances, be more productive over the last 12 months out of the giant echoing open-plan space. Far fewer people have actually been off sick as nobody has decided they have to soldier on and come to work anyway, coughing and spluttering over everyone and everything in range. Some of our recruitment has been people who do not live within any sort of commutable distance to the physical office and do not intend, nor are expected, to move closer. Some staff have had it agreed and arranged to move home away from the work site.
No it's not ideal in some respects for everyone to be stuck at home, and some folks are really struggling with the lack of in-person 'human' contact, but I don't expect to see a time, whilst I remain in this department (or possibly the entire org), where there is an expectation again that everyone should be in the office full time.