As the impact of Covid-19 sees more people working from home, an online security expert is warning the trend is opening the way to more cyber-attacks.
Peter Saunders, New Zealand country manager for network systems security provider Fortinet, says there has been a spike in online attacks since the outbreak of the coronavirus and, with the trend to work from home, there is evidence hackers are "broadening" their attacks as a consequence.
He says the threats are becoming increasingly complex and employers need to ensure staff working remotely are as secure online as they are in the office or workplace.
His comments come as studies here and overseas show the idea of working from home is proving popular - and cyber-attacks are growing.
A University of Otago survey of 2995 people conducted during Level 3 revealed 89 per cent wanted to continue working remotely (at least some of the time), while 73 per cent felt they were as productive when working remotely as they were in the office.
A survey conducted by European Union agency Eurofound showed almost four in 10 people began working from home as a result of Covid-19 – a trend experts believe heralds a permanent shift away from the office.
Saunders says it is important remote workers have access to the same protective systems as they do in the office. New Zealand is not immune from cyber threats with government figures showing reported cyber incidents jumped 38 per cent in 2019.
"Cyber-attacks always occur more often in times of economic downturn," he says. "In some cases, digitally capable people who suddenly find themselves without a job are looking for other ways to make money."
Saunders says Fortinet is working with a number of major institutions and corporates in New Zealand to provide secure and reliable access to organisational networks no matter the location of staff.
Among them are 2500 schools where Fortinet has installed enterprise-grade firewalls and web filtering solutions and media company NZME, publisher of the NZ Herald.
NZME is using Fortinet software on company laptops and some desktop computers used from home. The software includes antivirus and web control which offers the same protection for remote users as it does for office users behind a Fortinet-installed firewall.
NZME's chief information officer technology, Bill Hays, says during lockdown 500 staff worked from home each day on average. Although this number has since dropped, up to 100 are still doing so.
Hays says the company uses Fortinet virtual private network (VPN) security: "During lockdown we had up to 1400 people working from home connecting into our corporate systems and our Fortinet solution allowed this to happen."
"We take cybersecurity very seriously," he says. "As a leading source of media, NZME does become a cyber-attack target but we experienced no issues with our systems while in lockdown. Our investment in Fortinet did an awful lot of good for us."
Meanwhile Saunders says the volume, variety and sophistication of the attacks is intensifying and can mean companies struggle with the idea of allowing people the freedom to work from home.
He says Fortinet has a wide range of products and will discuss the right fit with individual companies: "Several years ago our customers used to buy a Firewall from us. These days, they are buying a Fortinet Fabric solution which integrates consistent software across their corporate cloud and mobile work loads."
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Saunders' views are reinforced by recent figures released by the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT NZ) showing the number of incidents reported in 2019 rose 38 per cent compared to 2018. As a Crown agency which works with other government bodies to respond to cyber security threats locally, CERT received a total of 4790 reports from businesses and individuals in 2019 and says the average financial loss for each was $30,000.
Meanwhile a Deloitte survey of 1500 working people in Switzerland found up to 25 per cent of employees had noticed an increase in the number of fraudulent emails since the outbreak of Covid-19.
And a report in US business magazine Forbes says globally companies risk losing US$5.2 trillion in cyber-attacks over the next five years, a figure almost the size of the economies of France, Italy and Spain put together.
Saunders says this points to a growing and urgent need for New Zealand companies to beef up their cyber-security sooner rather than later to avoid falling victim to cyber-attacks.
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