Check Point survey shows 75% of IT and security professionals fear
further increase in cyber-attacks and exploits as they start to re-open offices,
while also maintaining mass remote working
Check Point® Software
Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP), a leading provider of
cybersecurity solutions globally, has today released the findings of a new
survey showing how organizations managed their cyber-security during the
lockdowns forced by the Covid-19 pandemic, and also listing their security
priorities and concerns over the coming months as they move to the ‘new normal.’
Over 86% of respondents
said their biggest IT challenge during the pandemic was moving to mass remote
working, and their biggest security concern was maintaining VPN capacity for
staff. Key findings from the survey of over 270 IT and security professionals
globally are:
· Top
security concerns at the start of Covid-19 lockdowns: 62% of respondents said their main concern during
initial lockdowns was maintaining secure remote access and VPN capacity for
staff, followed by preventing social engineering attacks (47%), and securing
staff endpoints and home networks (52%).
· The ‘new normal’ begins as offices start to
re-open: 75% of respondents said their offices were open again
for limited numbers of employees as lockdowns lift. But on average, staff
are still working 4 days out of 5 at home – meaning remote-working vulnerabilities
and threats will persist for a long time.
· The remote-working security gap: While 65% of respondents said their company blocks
unmanaged PCs from corporate VPNs, just 29% deploy endpoint security on
employees’ home PCs, and only 35% run compliance checks. 42% say their company
invests in cyber-security training. This highlights how exposed
organizations are to fast-moving, 5th generation cyber-attacks
that target remote workers.
· The
security priorities for the ‘new normal’ over the coming months: 79% of respondents said their main
priority is tightening security and preventing attacks as employees continue to
work flexibly from home. 43% stated they plan to implement mobile
security solutions, and 39% plan to consolidate their security estates to help
eliminate ‘blind spots’ across their enlarged network perimeters.
· Companies’
leading cyber-security concerns for the next 12 months: Over 75% of respondents said their biggest concern
was an increase in cyber-attacks, especially phishing and social engineering
exploits. 51% said that attacks on unmanaged home endpoints was a concern,
followed by attacks against employee mobile devices (33%).
In April, a survey
by Check Point showed that organizations were being hit by a ‘perfect
storm’ of increased cyber-attacks, while having to manage the massive and rapid
changes to their networks and employee working practices during the
pandemic. 71% of respondents reported an increase in cyber-attacks during
February and March 2020, and 95% said they faced added IT security challenges
with provision of large-scale remote access for employees, as well as managing
shadow IT usage.
Check Point has a full
range of security solutions that ensure best-in-class connectivity and security
for remote working, allowing workforces to remain as productive as possible.
These include Check Point’s Remote Access VPN Software, Endpoint Threat
Prevention, Mobile Security and Mobile Secure Workspace all aim to take a
practical approach towards securing remote workers. Check Point’s
SandBlast Agent delivers complete endpoint threat prevention against zero-day attacks delivering a 100% block rate even for unknown threats with zero
false positives.
The survey was conducted by
Check Point with 271 respondents from enterprise organizations globally. For
more details on the survey visit:
https://www.checkpoint.com/
