What NTT's '2021 Global Threat Intelligence Report' reminds us most of all is that, in a world of evolving cyberthreats, we need to stay well ahead of the curve to secure the next horizon of cyber resilience. It reveals how hackers are taking advantage of global destabilisation by targeting essential industries and common vulnerabilities from the shift to remote working.

"Success lies in rethinking what you need to accommodate new ways of working," advises NTT, "engaging with your ecosystem of partners and customers to entrench trust across the supply chain; and securing all elements of your infrastructure to drive business value and transformation."

The report highlights how remote working has become a mainstay of the business environment. Some employees may never permanently return to an in-office working environment. "This was illustrated in the NTT 2020 Intelligent Workplace Report, which showed that more than half of organisations (54%) would never return to their pre-pandemic operating model or would pursue a hybrid operating model with expanded flexible working."

While remote working offers many benefits for employee and employer alike, the likelihood of being targeted by hackers is high and the volume of attacks rapidly growing. With this new approach, organisations must place a higher priority on several aspects of their businesses, cautions NTT:

• Managing risk
• Addressing cybersecurity issues related to supporting their online presence
• Optimising and securing work-from-home arrangements
• Preparing to defend against supply chain attacks.

In this issue, we look in depth at home working - how it is continuing to change the landscape in fundamental ways, and perhaps forever, while also exposing organisations to greater threat than they have ever faced before - see page 24.

Brian Wall
Editor
Computing Security
brian.wall@btc.co.uk