New guide offers relief to COVID-19’s cyber security pains

F-Secure has put together comprehensive cyber security guidance for the COVID-19 outbreak to help organizations secure operations during the pandemic.

The coronavirus pandemic is forcing companies to change the way they operate. Offices around the globe are closing their doors and giving their employees a mandate to work from home.

Due to the speed of COVID-19’s spread, some organizations implemented drastic changes practically overnight. That’s hardly enough time for IT departments to make the transition smoothly or securely. Nor is it enough time to update threat models to account for changes to the security challenges these organizations are facing.

It’s understandably created a problem. And while it may seem of only marginal importance when weighed against the physical threat posed by COVID-19, it’s important to remember that hospitals, grocery stores, banks, and even emergency services, are potential targets for attacks.

In response to the situation, F-Secure’s security consultants documented cyber security guidance related to COVID-19 to help organizations get through the pandemic. It’s not a replacement for proper security training or other services. However, it does address some of the common threats and challenges many organizations need to address.

Some specific challenges addressed by the guidance include:

• Spam and phishing campaigns exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic
• Potential security issues caused by ad-hoc changes to a company’s IT infrastructure
• Maintaining security-critical operations, such as patch management
• Supporting employees to ensure they have what they need to work from home without sacrificing security

The guide is written mostly for individuals responsible for security operations, such as a CISO. However, the advice addresses the security needs of people working in a variety of roles, making the information relevant for everyone from c-level executives to regular employees working in non-IT roles.

And if you don’t find the information you need in the guide, feel free to leave a comment, drop us a line on Twitter or LinkedIn, or check out some of the other articles on our COVID-19 hub.