Let's Talk About Privacy

HOW ‘REMOTE AND HYBRID LIFE’ HAS COME TO STAY, BUT RISK SHOULD NOT FEEL INVITED.

FROM COFFEE SHOPS TO PSEUDO-PERMANENT HOME OFFICES The way we face remote work has most definitely changed over the last couple of years. In 2019, the idea of remote work probably included sitting down for a few hours in a local coffee shop – and it was something rare. In 2020, the average experience included Zoom calls and makeshift kitchen table workstations.

As we head into 2022, many of us are still working from home but have migrated to pseudo-permanent home offices rather than their living rooms. Others are still working where they can, in their houses, and some others are operating in a HYBRID-WORK SCENARIO.

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NEW OPPORTUNITIES & CHALLENGES The rise of remote and hybrid work has brought with it many positive developments — like a shift to cloud-based platforms and the need for datadriven operations.

As expected, it has also uncovered some challenges.

One aspect that cannot be overlooked is THE POTENTIAL EXPOSURE OF VULNERABLE DATA DUE TO REMOTE AND HYBRID WORK.

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IMPROVING DATA PRIVACY AND CYBERSECURITY GOALS As the most recent cyberattacks reminded us all, companies need to continue to reap the benefits of this new reality while mitigating the security risks it poses. At Critical TechWorks, incorporating security and privacy by design is one way of working on it but it is far from the only way this can be addressed.

Paulo Lourenço, our Chief Information Security Officer, is no stranger to both “sides” of a cybersecurity hazard — attack and defence.

“Cybersecurity is a critical area, covering interconnected aspects such as risk management, vulnerability analysis, identity management, and data privacy.

Part of what we do is to understand how to guarantee the infrastructure having detected some attack surface, but with the cloud-based operations being the norm for almost everything today, it’s understandable why companies such as ours are looking to improve their data privacy and cybersecurity goals”.

Paulo Lourenço, Chief Information Security Officer

As technology has advanced, cybersecurity has evolved from being a “nice-to-have” functionality to an essential tool in corporations.

95% OF CYBERSECURITY BREACHES COULD BE TRACED BACK TO HUMAN ERROR (ACCORDING TO A 2017 STUDY BY IBM) Businesses around the globe have never before been so committed to investing in their workers by offering targeted modern cybersecurity training. At Critical TechWorks, we launched our very own Cybersecurity Academy; an initiative that both reinforce our team of cybersecurity specialists and help position our company as a leading voice on this topic.

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RESPECT PRIVACY, SAFEGUARD DATA AND ENABLE TRUST. Although the most successful cybersecurity program may be one that no one notices but enables the underlying business to function unhindered, a “waitand-see” approach is not advised. Some weeks ago, International Data Privacy Day (28th January) was a reminder of how ‘remote and hybrid life’ should not mean inviting risk ‘home’. It’s important to inspire the dialogue and promote effective changes based on the effort to empower both individuals and companies to respect privacy, safeguard data, and enable trust.