The pandemic caused a jarring change to businesses large and small. Most humans don’t embrace change well. The sudden change to remote working put lots of pressure on the IT department.
IT’s working environment switched from a couple of floors or buildings to one spread over homes and apartments across a region. The slow movement to remote working morphed into a stampede. This move proved less painful when businesses established a work from home format for employees synced with the IT department’s work schedule.
Companies making ample use of cloud technology in their systems found the transition much more manageable. Businesses and other institutions, such as colleges with a virtualized technology base, saw the move to remote working simpler. Workers felt at ease as the software and images on their screen remained the same as at their office.
Security threats increased as the employee workplace moved beyond the corporate firewall. Homes often include shared devices, and over half of employees admit doing work on a public network occasionally. Phishing scams increased exponentially due to the pandemic.
One of the best ways to secure a remote worker is using a corporate VPN. Most business VPNs before COVID-19 handled a low amount of remote work. The pandemic caused VPN’s to crash and a scramble to increase bandwidth quickly.
Working in shifts, in conjunction with IT acquiring more VPN licenses, alleviated some of the problems. The IT department needs to continuously boost security training for employees as business navigates the pandemic’s continuing disruption.
Author: Kris Keppeler, a writer who finds technology fascinating and loves humor. She writes for Crossing Genres on Medium.com and Does This Happen to You? on Channillo. Award-winning podcast producer who enjoys telling stories. Follow her @KrisKKAria on Twitter or on LinkedIn.
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