Cyber threats to persist in 2021

CEBU, Philippines — Cybersecurity firm, Trend Micro predicts the persistence of cyber threats in 2021, as companies’ are adapting the work-from-home (WFH) arrangement.

According to Trend Micro, threats will continue to persist in 2021 as telecommuting continues to be the norm.

“With this, organizations and users alike have to work together in coming up with measures to make WFH setups safe and secure,” said Joahnna Hipolito, Technical Communications Manager of Trend Micro Research.

Likewise, employees should also be fully and immediately prepared to be part of their company’s security strategy. “Companies can’t afford to simply wait for a security-focused mindset change among employees, they need to be trained well and soon,” Hipolito added.

To help combat threats in the cyber sphere in the Philippines, Trend Micro aims to address this security gap in businesses and organizations through a series of training programs and an annual conference.

Initially, the company held an event dubbed Decode 2020: Elevate last November 2020

Trend Micro kickstarted its advocacy with Decode 2020 which carried the theme ‘Elevate: Transform Rapidly, Seamlessly, Securely’.

With the ongoing health crisis, businesses are abruptly shifting their setups by applying WFH schemes and going digital with their processes. As corporations and enterprises around the country go online as a response to the lockdown measures, the line that separates work from private lives gets blurred.

Company and business-issued devices are used for personal affairs while work data and confidential information are transferred through home internet service providers.

Together with this inevitable mix of work and home comes the arising danger of cybercrime.

However, not all businesses are ready for this digital transformation nor are they prepared for the cyber threats that may come their way, Hipolito stressed.

“2020 was in a lot of ways a catalyst for changes, as much as it was a gamechanger. The ways that our normal had to change in 2020 was a combination of those that were totally unexpected, and those that we have foreseen but didn’t expect to have to deal with so soon,” explained Hipolito.

In 2021, on top of the learning sessions plotted all year round, Trend Micro will also be staging Decode 2021. IT enthusiasts should expect a bigger event, according to Trend Micro.

Still with the pandemic restrictions in mind, the organizers are looking at having a hybrid event that features both virtual and physical setups.

As in the previous years, Decode 2021 will have industry leaders and IT experts from around the globe to give updates on recent technology and practices and share knowledge on various IT-related and cybersecurity topics.

Decode is a free conference that is open to all on a pre-registration basis.