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 Until about 15 months ago, the idea of ‘the future of work’ – and a world in which we all did our jobs and collaborated with colleagues seamlessly, from any location – probably seemed, aptly enough, like a rather remote concept for many of us.

And then, for many of us, the future become the present overnight. 

Even if the reality was not quite so seamless as the premise, it was just that: a reality. One in which we all had to live and work as best we could.

While the transition to working remotely was a huge challenge for most organisations, it was also an opportunity for many to explore and expedite plans that were, before the pandemic, stuck in the early stages of progress. It also offered employees the chance to fully experience a new way of doing things – a way that, for large numbers, offered an improved work-life balance and more time with their families.

As organisations and their employees begin, tentatively, to move into the post-Covid phase of their lives, it remains unclear the extent to which the adaptations and amendments of the past year will remain in place. 

Before Covid, the number of people connecting via VPN might only have been 10% of an organisation. But, now, the whole  company is using the VPN – and, as users are very bad at passwords and we frequently reuse them, there is a very real risk of breached credentials being used against your VPN.

For most, a wholesale return to 9-to-5 office life seems highly unlikely. But it is equally unlikely that the country’s office blocks will stand silent and empty for months on end.

One of the key considerations of how we enable the future of work are the process, policies and tools needed to secure staff, devices and – most important of all – data.

We caught up with Richard Meeus, director of security technology and strategy at Akamai, our partner for PublicTechnology Cyber Week, to discuss the issue of how to secure the future workplace.