"Cybersecurity will continue to be critical as hybrid work environments fuelled by cloud and mobility solutions become the new normal" 

Keshav Dhakad, Group Head and Assistant General Counsel- Corporate, External and Legal Affairs, Microsoft India

“This year brought unprecedented change for organizations across the world and had deep implications for trust and cybersecurity. Trust in technology has perhaps never been more important. With most of the world connecting remotely, cybersecurity today is a strategic priority for every organization to protect their data, while ensuring the privacy, security and digital safety of their workforce.

Since the start of the pandemic, there’s been an exponential rise in cyberattacks, targeting individuals, organizations and often critical first responders like hospitals and public health authorities.

Looking ahead, cybersecurity will continue to be critical as hybrid work environments fuelled by cloud and mobility solutions become the new normal. Organizations will need to have a strong cyber resilience plan pivoted around a zero trust strategy to manage their needs across identity, security, management and compliance. This means a shift to more robust security tools and protocols, powered by cloud-based threat monitoring and analytics. As we move towards a digital economy, building trust in technology will be critical for every sector as people will only use technology that they trust. Security and privacy therefore need to be at the heart of how organizations and governments build and deliver products and services and cannot be an afterthought. No single organization can go the distance alone-we have a collective responsibility to build a tech ecosystem grounded in trust and strong ethical principles.”