Today, due to COVID-19, the internet is more essential than ever. Suddenly, millions of students are telelearning, millions of office workers are working from home, and millions of people are meeting with their friends, family, business associates, and faith groups online via online services. We are consuming more content than ever before, and the internet is holding up well.
The internet’s role in our life may have taken a permanent leap forward. What does this mean for business, and will we have new security concerns?
Some Internet Stats
In 2017, only 5.2 percent of Americans worked from home, about one out of every 20 people. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that 29 percent of us can do our jobs from home.
Right now, adaptable businesses looking to survive the pandemic are setting up their employees to work from home if at all possible. Even government offices are doing it. It seems that COVID-19 has finally made business owners realize the benefits of telework.
So, now that working from home has become more of a norm, how will this change the Internet?
How is the Internet Holding Up?
Internet traffic is way up. About a third of people working from home, most students, and millions of new online shoppers looking to avoid contamination have added their traffic to the normal use of streaming services and typical online-based services. Yet the Internet is holding up extremely well.
Most ISPs have loosened or eliminated the normal data caps. It’s interesting that these companies claim that the caps were in place to prevent overcrowding and ensure that the service works well, but it looks like the Internet functions fine without them. How will customers react if and when the original limits are put back in place?
It’s not perfect. Some rural users still struggle to get the bandwidth they need. Cities with aging infrastructure are seeing more downtime. Still, many thousands of businesses are continuing operations. It’s looking pretty good.
Cybersecurity is Still Crucial
Businesses surviving the stay-at-home orders through remote technology are doing well, but many of them are experiencing cyber attacks. Remote work does open your business to a whole list of new threats.
To survive in this new environment, make sure your systems are up-to-date, and train your employees so that they are ready to defend against cyber threats.
Get Ready For a Whole New Office
The pandemic could change the office forever. Imagine the new business world of productive and happy workers, fewer expenses, and sweatpants. Or not. Meanwhile, businesses surviving COVID-19 need to have these network security tools in place:
- • Around-the-clock monitoring
- • Firewalls and intrusion detection
- • Anti-malware
- • Security training
- • Encrypted messaging and file sharing
- • Help desk
…and more.
Want to talk to us about network security, telework, and other technology-based solutions that would be especially helpful right now? Call Quikteks at (973) 882-4644. We can help.