On 26 April 2020, 189 countries across Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North America, and South America shut down schools marking one of the largest mass school closures in history. But today, more than a year since COVID-19 forced entire cohorts online, economies continue to flit in and out of lockdowns and schools are continuing to resort to remote or hybrid-learning arrangements.
COVID-19 has severely tested the limits of our healthcare systems, pushing many hospitals to the brink of manpower and technological collapse. In fact, the pandemic has demonstrated just how quickly public health can unravel once healthcare systems reach their maximum capacity. These pressures have hastened the development of telemedicine, pushing the once-distant goal to the centre of the agenda for healthcare institutions across the globe.
It is commonly accepted that Data is the lifeblood of every business. Unless of course, your company still does bookkeeping with pen and paper? If not, the chances are that the day-to-day operations of your business cannot function without Data. Data lasts forever and is being used in ways we can’t even imagine - almost every device is a computer producing data these days.
Where would we be without our beloved Excel spreadsheets? Since Microsoft first launched its Excel spreadsheet software in 1985, it has grown to arguably become the most important computer program in workplaces globally. The spreadsheet has truly become entrenched in daily business processes as well as critical applications - but the million dollar question is - are spreadsheets secure? Unfortunately when it comes to spreadsheet security, with popularity comes complacency.
Before we zoom in on the problems with unstructured data in the finance industry, let’s take a step back and look at the massive proliferation of data in general. Did you know, around 59 zettabytes (ZB) of data – that’s 59 with 21 zeros after it – were expected to be created, captured, copied and consumed in the world, according to Global DataSphere from International Data Corporation ( IDC)? That’s a lot of data!
Cloud-based solutions are the holy grail for the modern day business. The convenience of being able to access enterprise data and tools any time, any place, and from any device has been a key ingredient for business success - particularly if you’re in the middle of a global pandemic. But, there are plenty of unspoken risks that come with the use of an always-connected workforce.
With work-from-home now the default mode in most industries, organisations and employees now have to access and transfer files across home networks and personal devices on a daily basis. Naturally businesses are concerned as leaked files can have serious financial and legal repercussions.
