2020 WITNESSED a seismic physical, economic and cultural shift among global organisations as businesses necessarily adapted to working during a pandemic. When COVID-19 brought sweeping changes to the way in which we all operate, communicate and do business, cyber criminals were in the wings waiting to seize any opportunity they could to exploit security weaknesses for monetary and disruptive gains. Is that trend going to continue in 2021? Safi Raza offers his views on the matter.

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WHEN THE COVID-19 pandemic took hold in March last year, few industry commentators would have predicted the enormous impact it has since exerted right across the world and, indeed, every vertical sector. With that as the backdrop, Johan Paulsson examines the trends that we can now expect to see developing across the physical security sector during 2021.

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WHEN THE World Health Organisation declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, organisations had to adapt and change the way in which they operate – and fast. As those changes took place, cyber criminals followed suit because the modern criminal is constantly evolving in line with shifts in online behaviour and trends. With all of this in mind, Simon Eyre focuses his attentions on the trends we can expect to witness across the cyber world in 2021.

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WITH 20-PLUS years of events sector experience to date, Rachael Shattock was appointed Group event director at the Nineteen Group (with responsibility for International Security Expo, International Cyber Expo and International Disaster Response) in early 2020. Here, in conversation with Security Matters, Rachael focuses on the necessary pivot to all three events running under one banner in the online domain.

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EACH YEAR, the increasingly sophisticated criminals of the cyber world pose new and very real threats to the financial services sector, making it a prime target for cyber attacks. As Safi Raza explains, the pace of digital acceleration and the continuous development of new technologies offers a constant challenge for financial firms. It’s a challenge made even greater by the global pandemic.

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A10 NETWORKS recently launched its State of DDoS Weapons Report (Q2 2020), the contents of which is based on approximately ten million unique source addresses tracked by the company. As Ehab Halablab observes, the document sheds more light on the nature of DDoS attacks and the key trends and observations that enterprises can learn from when adopting a successful defence.

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WITH THE majority of employees in many businesses forced to work from home since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mark Harper investigates whether or not today’s companies are fully prepared for a new set of data security challenges.

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A POWERFUL new general purpose Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology has emerged from the computer science community. GPT 3.0 contains over 100 times more learning reference points than its predecessor, writes Pauline Norstrom, resulting in a quantum leap in capability.

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MANY BUSINESSES have been able to make the transition from on-site to remote working, but the time will come when the focus is back on the office environment. Alistair Enser outlines why security companies need to help their customers address the changes in their risk profiles and assist them to navigate the potential shift from cyber security threats to civil disturbance, for example, and from commercial theft to on-premises abuse or even violence.

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JIM PREEN explores the implications of using WhatsApp in the workplace and, in tandem, the importance of data protection and data privacy for any business communication channel, particularly so at times like these when the majority of employees are working away from the office environment.

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PARTICIPATING IN a mentoring relationship can be greatly beneficial for an individual’s professional development, whether that be as a mentor or mentee. There’s a good deal to be gained from having a trusted mentor at all stages of the professional journey. Equally so, mentors can also grow and learn through a mentoring relationship. Here, in this exclusive thought leadership article for Security Matters, Angela Vernon-Lawson examines her own mentoring journey involving The Security Institute.

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FEW BUSINESSES are prepared for multiple and concurrent crises. Most can survive a single disruption, but dealing with a second while already in a weakened state increases the impact exponentially. When the COVID-19 crisis began and the lockdown was implemented, the first action businesses should have taken (after actioning remote working) was to reassess their risks. Peter Groucutt explains why.

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THE BRITISH Security Industry Association has been working tirelessly behind the scenes in a determined bid to underpin and embolden the private security industry in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Among other things, that work has involved lobbying Government in a bid to see security personnel recognised for what they are (and always have been): key workers. Mike Reddington offers a progress update.

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FABLIHA CHOWDHURY presents the key takeaways from a recent panel discussion in which representatives from Starbucks and Uber, as well as a former representative of Barclays, shared their personal take on embracing a cloud-first approach towards security and operations.

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IT HAS been a long-accepted belief that the true strength of an organisation can only genuinely be determined when it faces a real test. The social and economic challenges presented by COVID-19 make it arguably the sternest test that many individuals, businesses and organisations have ever faced. How has the Financial Conduct Authority dealt with the pandemic? Syedur Rahman offers his views.

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BARELY ANY day goes by without Artificial Intelligence (AI) and video surveillance being front and centre in the public spotlight due to concerns about ethics and privacy. Even more so now given the rapid development of highly beneficial applications designed for safety in light of COVID-19. Pauline Norstrom explains why it has never been more important for stakeholders to remain properly informed about this ever-evolving set of technologies.

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OVER THE past few years, the cyber criminal underground has gradually undergone its own industrial revolution as modernisation, innovation and digitalisation processes have taken hold. How are today's businesses fighting back? Liv Rowley focuses on threat intelligence and partnerships.

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MUCH HAS been written about the current increase in home working as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. While remote working simply isn't an option for many companies and their myriad employees, for others business is at least continuing even though it's not a case of 'business as usual'. Here, Mike Hurst examines the impact of home working on the security profession.

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WITH COVID-19 seemingly bringing the world to a halt and more than 50% of the globe’s population engaging in some form of lockdown, cyber criminals have viewed the pandemic as a golden opportunity. Why and how are they seeking to exploit COVID-19, and in what ways can organisations look to defend themselves? Safi Raza offers his views.

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OVER THE past month or so, it has become very clear indeed that the impact of a global pandemic was something most organisations and industries were unprepared to manage. That, of course, is the very nature of emergencies. They often catch us unaware and unsure of how to respond. As Marc Whalen points out, a safe organisation effectively resolves incidents, but the smart organisations avoid them.

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