The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift to hybrid work, and this trend is expected to continue in the years to come. This presents new challenges for organisations, as the traditional perimeter-based security model is no longer effective in a world where employees are working from anywhere.
The Fortinet survey also found out 68% of Singapore organisations have at least half of their workforce in hybrid arrangements, and 76% expect this figure to rise further by mid-decade. This suggests that the hybrid work model is becoming increasingly mainstream in the country and it needs to take steps to secure their environments accordingly.
To mitigate the risks associated with hybrid work, organisations need to focus on the following:
- Reassessing investment priorities: Review spending priorities to ensure that they are investing in the right security solutions for a hybrid work environment. This may mean investing in cloud-based security solutions, endpoint protection, and security awareness training.
- Accounting for security infrastructure changes: The hybrid work model creates a more distributed network, which means that implementing a security infrastructure that can protect data and applications no matter where they are located. This may require the use of solutions such as Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE).
- Managing insider threats: Implementing security measures to protect against insider threats is a must, such as data loss prevention (DLP) and least privilege access controls.
The hybrid work model is a complex security challenge, but it is one that organisations can overcome by taking a proactive approach to security. By reassessing investment priorities, accounting for security infrastructure changes, and managing insider threats, you can create a secure hybrid work environment that protects their data and applications.
