Sophos, a global leader in next-generation cybersecurity, recently released the results of its worldwide survey, “The IT Security Team: 2021 and Beyond,” which demonstrates how increased security obstacles during the pandemic provided IT, teams, with a distinct opportunity to develop their cybersecurity knowledge.

Over the course of 2020, the great majority of IT teams in Saudi Arabia that experienced an increase in cyberattacks 85% and a greater security workload 91% enhanced their security skills and expertise. Despite the problems posed by the pandemic, 52% of IT teams polled globally said that team morale improved in 2020.

The rise in cyberattacks mostly during pandemic impacted IT security capabilities across all industrial sectors examined in the survey, including education 83% retail 85% and healthcare (at the worldwide level) 80%. The study included 5,400 IT decision-makers in mid-sized businesses from Europe, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Central Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

“2020 was an extraordinary year for IT teams all across the world,” said Chester Wisniewski, a chief research scientist at Sophos. IT experts played a critical role in assisting companies to continue operating despite the limits and limits imposed by COVID-19.

“Among many other things, they allowed educational institutions to shift learning online, businesses to convert to online transactions, healthcare organizations to offer digital services and care under extremely difficult conditions, and governmental bodies to continue providing important services.

“Much of this would have been done at great speed, with limited equipment and resources, and while confronting an onslaught of assaults on the network, endpoints, and personnel. To suggest that many IT teams were undoubtedly under a lot of stress is an understatement.”

“However, the study reveals that in so many cases, these obstacles have resulted in not just more highly trained, but also more engaged IT teams, eager to embrace an ambitious future,” he said. As more countries begin to plan for life outside of pandemic restrictions, we have an excellent opportunity to implement new IT and security policies, implement extra secure modern tools to manage employees and operations beyond the IT perimeter, build expert teams that integrate in-house and outsourced expertise, and establish security platforms that combine intelligent automation with human intervention. The future could be just as odd as the past so there is no turning back.”

The major findings of the worldwide survey “The IT Security Team: 2021 and Beyond” for Saudi Arabia are:

• As technology became the primary facilitator for distributed and digital companies, the demands on IT staff grew. IT workload (without security) rose for 66% of IT teams, while cybersecurity burden rose for 67%.

• Opponents were eager to seize the chances offered by the pandemic: Over the course of 2020, 52% of IT teams observed an uptick in the frequency of cyberattacks targeting their company.

• The entire 2020 experience allowed 62% of IT teams to improve their cybersecurity skills and understanding. Most of this professional growth is believed to have been obtained through unstructured on-the-job learning as teams faced new technological and security needs, frequently under tremendous pressure and far from their usual place of work.

• Meeting obstacles as a group increased team spirit. Many IT teams' morale has also improved. Two-thirds (66%) of the IT teams polled reported an increase in team morale over the course of 2020. External and personal conditions through the epidemic, like local lockdowns, unable to visit family, or other circumstances, are also likely to have an impact on morale. The findings indicate that a common purpose, a sense of worth, and experiencing hardship collectively helped IT teams connect and improve their moods.

• The 2020 experiences have fueled expectations for larger IT teams and the use of sophisticated tools like artificial intelligence (AI) in future technology plans. Many businesses seemed to have approached 2021 with intentions to expand both in-house and outsourced IT teams and to adopt the promise of new tools and technologies. As per the poll, 75% of IT teams predict an increase in in-house IT security employees by 2023, while 67% predict an increase in outsourced IT security employees during the same period.

The vast majority 92% expect AI to assist in dealing with the increasing quantity and complexity of threats. This might be attributed, in part, to the fact that 39% of IT teams feel cyberattacks are too sophisticated for in-house teams to handle on their own.