Cybersecurity experts are warning that remote work “may not be a good idea” for security teams. Corey Thomas, CEO and chairman of security firm Rapid7, says that security teams that work from home cannot communicate as effectively, nor can they share skills and perform as well as they could in person. He says that while remote working has taught us new skills, we should not underestimate the value of communication for business safety.   

The Cybersecurity Exposure Index 2020 has revealed the countries most susceptible to cyber-attacks. After analysing 108 countries in Europe, America, Asia-Pacific and Africa, the team revealed that Africa has the highest exposure score, with three quarters in the high-risk category. Asia-Pacific had 60% in the high-risk category, while Europe and North America were much safer. Finland topped the ranks for least vulnerable country.

Legal departments are preparing to become much more involved with cybersecurity issues as the global workforce continues to work from home. They will be re-evaluating privacy and data protection, while also addressing how they protect their networks. Experts at Law.com warned, however, that many legal departments were “not ready” for the workloads coming towards them as a result of the shift towards remote working.   

Account holders are urged to update their weak passwords to something stronger as it was revealed that brute force hackers can guess the majority of popular passwords in less than one second. Up to 70% were labelled as vulnerable, with consecutive numbers 12345 named as the most popular. Users should turn towards a decentralised password manager instead to protect themselves from these brute force methods.  

In the wake of World Password Day, professionals are being advised to enforce password policies across all workspaces. Lax attitudes towards password security are making things easier for hackers, who are using more sophisticated technology than ever to guess users’ personal details. Stephen Bowers, Global Practice Director at BSI, suggests using a password manager rather than changing every 30 days.

Cybersecurity attacks were up by 30 per cent in Q1 of 2020, says a new report. There were 157,000 cyber-attacks says internet service provider Beaming – up from 120,000 in 2019. Experts think there could be a link between the coronavirus crisis and the increase in attacks. Businesses most likely to suffer from attacks included those that relied on IoT applications, as well as company databases and file-sharing systems.