What’s striking to me is still how few organisations really know where their data sits in the cloud, who has access to it, and remain confused about their security responsibilities. For many Covid-19 has accelerated this process, challenging security teams’ readiness because of a shift in focus and a more distributed workforce.

In the real world, we all could have been better prepared for COVID-19—with adequate supplies of critical equipment such as testing kits, masks and ventilators. But few countries were willing to accept a risk model for something that seems abstract. Many voices of warning were ignored because of concerns about costs.

The COVID-19 related domains studied in this research were obtained from the RiskIQ dataset​. The dataset keeps track of the newly observed domains that contain keywords related to COVID-19, including “coronav”, “covid”, “ncov”, “pandemic”, “vaccine,” and “virus.”

In this critical time, business leaders have a heightened responsibility to set clear expectations about how their organizations are managing security risk in the new work environments, leveraging new policies and technologies and empowering their employees.

At Palo Alto Networks, we have embraced video conferencing to strengthen our channels for connecting with and supporting our customers, to transform how we lead and work together – and to protect our company from cybersecurity threats.