April 2020
It’s Life…But Not As We Know It
By Peter Aggus
We are all working in a new and somewhat unfamiliar environment—both at home and at work. Dealing with “Social Distancing” is now the new norm. Some think (or maybe hope) that this is all temporary and that life will magically return to normal in the near future. But will it? Even if it does, is there a risk of more pandemics around the corner that will precipitate a return to isolation rules? Or are we going to learn the lessons of this pandemic and be ready for the next?
The Other Way to Handle Disaster
By Thomi Glover
A year ago it would have been unimaginable that we would be dealing with a pandemic that has killed thousands of people and brought many organizations to their knees. This will likely change the way that we do business, not just for the foreseeable future, but forever. My husband, an information security specialist, often comments on the regularity of cyberattacks and the anxiety that that creates. But there is another level of anxiety in this situation that badly needs attention, and that is the anxiety that we all face as the world that we knew crumbles before our eyes.
The Time for Security Awareness
By Matthias Koch
With COVID-19 disrupting business operations in an unprecedented way, many organizations have been required to adapt to remote working. While many managed to deploy the required infrastructure and technologies to enable their workforce to work from home, how about security awareness training? Who has access to the company’s data when working from home, in many cases from a shared workspace? What happens to the printed documents that may contain confidential information?
The Risks of Shadow IT
By Ellen Koskinen-Dodgson
When we conduct IT department assessments, an important area of investigation is “shadow IT.” Shadow IT refers to the situation where user departments reach out directly to suppliers to sign up for software applications that meet their business needs (bypassing their organization’s IT department to do so). This process can put the company at risk. These risks include security, violation of provincial or federal privacy laws and more.