For the last few years, people’s lives have been increasingly relying on digital connectivity and it continues growing, whether it is getting the latest information and health guidance, or adapting supply chains and sourcing equipment globally. This increased dependency and demands of global networks have been swelling rapidly. At present, as the world is undergoing challenges caused by Covid-19, almost every business across industries has paused services and send employees to work from home. In this time, the use of video calling, videoconferencing and streaming entertainment services have surged.

While that is not exactly clear how much we depend on digital connectivity, many cybercriminals are in search of exploiting our thirst for information as an attack vector. In the time of crisis, cyber attackers are using Covid-19-themed phishing e-mails, which testify to deliver official information on the virus, to tempt individuals to click malicious links that download Remote Administration Tools (RATs) on their devices.

These malicious actors are also capitalizing on the fact that a majority of people who are working from home have not deployed the same security on their networks. In this case, it is essential to ensure the robust security of the network employees using at home to access their work.

In an effort to address the security of digital connectivity, automation company ABB is committed to supporting the protection of people, while assisting businesses to stay operational during the pandemic. According to the company, remote services and digital solutions can make a major contribution to keeping people safe, production running, and critical supply chains and economic livelihood preserved. The Switzerland-based company is working with customers to make sure the access to field operators and service engineers who cannot be on-site at this time, by providing control room live streams, operational insights, process data and plant key performance indicators to users sheltering in place.

As businesses need to keep running in crisis time, there is a need of private-public collaboration to ensure connectivity for the people who need to be connected. Thus, to support this, a group has been formed by the World Bank, ITU, GSMA and World Economic Forum to recognize immediate priorities for private-public collaboration that can be taken by governments in partnership with the private sector.

As per World Economic Forum, business leaders these days need to deliver a heightened responsibility to set clear expectations about how their organizations are managing security risks in the new work environments, utilizing new policies and technologies and how they are empowering their employees. They also provide suggestions to business leaders, including to understand the threats to your organization, provide clear guidance and encourage communication, and provide the right security capabilities.

Moreover, there is also a need to ensure digital connectivity in the post-pandemic time to keep information flowing to tackle the future crisis.