Cybersecurity and remote working: Croatia’s (non-)response to increased cyber threats

Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) has influenced all aspects of life, and cybersecurity becomes more relevant than ever. The transition to remote information technology (IT) solutions has opened a plethora of possibilities for cyber incidents and attacks, with the most “popular” now apparently being phishing schemes and ransomware attacks. Remote working applications, such as file-sharing and collaboration tools, numerous personal devices accessing the network, higher email traffic, cloud solutions and similar COVID-19-influenced shifts in work organization might all lead to data breaches, as well as loss and theft of data, resulting in huge financial and reputational losses. In addition to losing valuable business information, money, and consumer confidence if cyber-attacked, companies are also under threat of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) fines if the cyber attack results in a personal data breach. It seems that many European countries have recognized cybersecurity as being crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic, while, unfortunately, Croatia has stayed completely silent on the pandemic-related cybersecurity hazards; it has simply left companies to figure out their own ways of reacting to the increased cyber threats, without even warning individuals.