The Rise Of Telework And The Struggle Towards Cyber Security Laws

Before 2020, telework had been regarded as a privilege of certain people within certain domains of activity. Moreover, it had been perceived as a caprice, given the fact that for the majority of people working implied a workplace which usually was chosen and properly organized by the employer. Working from home or from another place according to the desire of an employee seemed like utopia. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the transition from the traditional life to a life based on the use of technology. People had to keep physical distance for sanitary purposes, but at the same time, communication and daily life activities had to be continued in a suitable manner for preventing illness. When State Governments declared lockdown in the entire world, everybody and everything went online. As a result, computers and Internet became the salvation for the humankind confronted with a challenging virus. In this context, the only thing that mattered was that people could talk to each other, work together and sustain the economy and the society in general. As usually, technology was overestimated due to its advantages and most (probably all) of the risks were neglected. People felt relieved to have a normal life facilitated by the use of computers and Internet. It is vital to have an income and telework came as a guarantee in this regard. The issue is that while the focus was on the generalization of telework, cyber incidents occurred and cyber security was far from being a priority. What was the impact of cyber security incidents related to telework? Which are the main guidelines for ensuring cyber security in telework? These questions are analyzed in the present paper.