The COVID-19 pandemic suddenly transformed the way that we all work. Businesses around the world found themselves rapidly shifting to a remote work environment that required agile reconfiguration of systems and shifts in security policy. Cybersecurity teams scrambled to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the data entrusted to their care while accommodating unprecedented remote work requirements.

Now that organizations have settled into these new work routines, it’s time to take a look at how these changes will shape future trends in the way that we work and how security teams can build controls that both facilitate remote work and foster a defense-in-depth approach to cybersecurity.

Let’s look at four major cybersecurity trends that will endure beyond the pandemic.

Throughout 2020, we’ve seen organizations rapidly shift their business models to embrace both telecommuting and cloud services. While travel restrictions certainly accelerated these changes, both trends began long before the coronavirus pandemic, and it’s likely that they will continue even after restrictions are relaxed.

Cybersecurity professionals and technology leaders should continue working together to ensure that they meet their security objectives in this changing environment. Let’s take a look at five things that you can do to protect your information assets in the cloud.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, mobile devices and cloud computing were changing the landscape of IT. In the “new normal,” with widespread remote work and distributed IT environments, CISOs and other technology leaders are more interested than ever in next-generation endpoint protection solutions. IT leaders who haven’t already deployed NGEP technology are hearing about it from their peers and are eager to put solutions in place. Those who have already made investments in NGEP platforms want to make sure that they’re getting the most value out of their investments.

These are reasonable concerns, because the threats facing endpoints continue to grow. Many organizations first deploy NGEP solutions only after experiencing a serious security incident that originates on an endpoint, while others want to do everything they can to avoid that fate. CDW recently published a white paper that delves deeply into this technology. Let’s take a look at the main themes from that white paper: three reasons that organizations are considering the use of this technology.

Recent events turned our working lives upside down. With very little notice, millions of people around the world were sent home from their offices to suddenly adopt a remote work lifestyle. Four months into this adventure, most knowledge workers have adapted to working styles that replace conference rooms with video meetings and coffee chats with virtual happy hours.

I believe that we’ve arrived at a new normal where remote work will become a standard arrangement for knowledge workers. Both companies and employees will benefit from this approach. While employees can better balance their lives, companies will be able to reduce overhead expenses by consolidating and eliminating expensive physical offices. This work style comes with new cybersecurity considerations, and I urge organizations to adopt six key practices to adapt to our new working patterns.

As organizations across the country have moved to remote work models, many have reported an increase in cyberattacks. Cybercriminals, it seems, are taking advantage of the public health crisis to exploit security vulnerabilities in home-based computer systems. What can organizations do to minimize the chances that their shift to remote work results in an expensive breach? We recommend a multipronged approach that combines the use of security tools and end-user education.

The election infrastructure in the U.S. depends on the coordinated, secure interaction of thousands of state and local election officials using very different technologies. These range from large cities with fully electronic voting systems to small municipalities that still rely on paper ballots. As I work with officials from these diverse election authorities, I’ve developed a set of best practices that will enhance security in any election environment. Let’s take a look at five key measures that every Board of Elections should put in place.