Security News > 2021 > June > COVID-19 has transformed work, but cybersecurity isn't keeping pace, report finds
An international survey of tech professionals from the Thales Group finds some bleak news for the current state of data security: the COVID-19 pandemic has upended cybersecurity norms, and security teams are struggling to keep up.
The problems appear to be snowballing; lack of preparation has led to a scramble resulting in poor data protection practices, outdated security infrastructure not receiving needed overhauls, a jumble of new systems that only make matters worse and priority misalignment between security teams and leadership.
"Survey results indicate that there is reasonable awareness of the risks present in today's environments, but they also show that most organizations need to improve their security posture," the report said.
Eighty-two percent said they were concerned about the security risks that come with a remote workforce, and 44% were worried that their security systems couldn't meet the task of effectively securing remote work.
Data security is alarmingly lacking as well, the report found: only 17% said more than 50% of sensitive cloud-hosted data has been encrypted.
"One of the overarching takeaways that was driven by lessons learned from the pandemic is that security strategists need to increase the agility of their security controls," Thales concluded, adding that it isn't just security teams that need to be responsible for making necessary changes.