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Why Companies Will Need Better Intelligence and Security To Prosper in 2021
Letitia Thian, Marketing Manager, APAC,

A McKinsey & Company survey found that the pandemic accelerated digital transformation in APAC businesses by more than 10 years. Businesses that reported declining revenues are placing greater emphasis on digital. Consumers have increased their adoption of using digital channels to interact with organizations, through e-banking, online grocery shopping, and even placing contactless dining orders through e-menus at restaurants on their mobile phones.
This increased reliance on digital transactions will bring with it an increased risk from cyber criminals for both consumers and companies – through hacking, counterfeiting, and online fraud. CSC research shows an exponential increase in domain name registrations in 2020, and not all of these are registered legitimately by the businesses concerned. The Anti-Phishing Working Group’s latest quarterly report shows the number of unique phishing websites detected and brands targeted by phishing campaigns are at its highest in 10 years. Around 80% of the phishing sites use digital certificates to give a false sense of security to unsuspecting web users, clearly indicating that cyber criminals are upping their game and phishing activity.
In 2021, we expect to see continued advancements in digital enablement, and businesses developing innovative online strategies. At the same time, organizations will need to protect against infringing sites and content to strengthen their online presence, and prevent brand dilution from traffic diversion, customer confusion, phishing attacks, malware distribution, and the sale of counterfeit goods.
Maintaining connectedness in a safe-distanced worldIn 2020, IT professionals were challenged to deploy work-from-home environments with little notice, having to provide employees with VPN access and many cloud-based solutions when COVID-19 struck. Being online and maintaining operational uptime for employees and customers has never been more important.
Recent cyber attacks show that cyber criminals can and will find blind spots to exploit in companies’ security postures, finding the weak link among third-party vendors or employees to infiltrate company networks through ransomware or social engineering, or crippling them with DDoS attacks.