COVID-19: Mitigating cyber risks during crisis

In light of the COVID-19 crisis, most organisations have invoked their business continuity plans (BCPs) across the globe. However, adopting work from home comes with its own set of challenges.

Cyber criminals have begun taking advantage of unsuspecting users and tackling cyber-attacks in these challenging times could result in a significant drain of resources. Key stakeholders/CXOs in the organisation will need to come together to manoeuvre this comprehensively.

Here’s how you can HALT and consider steps to effectively mitigate cyber risks during these challenging times

Activate Business Continuity strategy

• Devise and invoke a holistic BCP and clearly define SOPs for employees working from home

Prepare a cyber-attack defence model

• Take backups, make employees aware of prevalent phishing tactics, stay up to date on attacks and create a model to identify trends and emerging risk/threat areas

Secure your IT assets

• Enable authentications and patches, update solutions to ensure endpoint security, issue advisories to employees during work from home period

Stay updated on all legal, regulatory and technical developments

• Stay updated on changes to data privacy, protection and cyber laws and regulations, as well as evolving risks and technical developments

Ensure contract compliance

• Review vendor and third-party contracts and understand key provisions and laws

Grant Thornton’s Cyber Risk team can help you effectively plan and mitigate potential cyber risks to navigate these challenging times.