Digital shopping went through an unprecedented 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic confined consumers to their homes around the world, fuelling a trading boom. The trend continues this year as well.

Prompted by changing consumer and employee behavior due to the pandemic, every player, from small tradesperson to the biggest companies, was forced to review and change their policies.

When the consumer turned to contactless shopping, every institution, small or large, acted quickly to adapt. Working remotely also led to a change in employee behavior. In some cases, these changes have become permanent.

The rapid change during the pandemic also brought along significant cybersecurity risks. However, much-needed data regarding these risks has not been shared yet.

Cybersecurity risk

Organizations seeking continuity in their fast-growing businesses faced attacks multiple times due to their inexperience while moving to remote work. The virtual environment has not adjusted as well as people have to the three-pronged measures against the virus, namely masks, distancing and hygiene. However, this year almost every company and institution will have to bring up the issue of cybersecurity.

Firms will have difficulty developing new programs and structures without taking cybersecurity into consideration. The recent attack on a pipeline operator in the U.S. showed once again the importance of security for the continuity of running a remote business, including e-commerce.

The world is still in the early stage. The risk is increasing every day. Cybersecurity will occupy the agenda as much as the pandemic. It is imperative to be prepared for this.

No institution without secure remote access

One of the key reasons behind the cyberattacks that gained pace during the pandemic has been the change in the working environment of employees. The issue of remote access and application security has gained importance.

Infrasis Cyber Engineering, which has international expertise in the application world and remote access, was established nine years ago. Infrasis founder Can Sobutay says cyberattacks are no longer a job done by young people wearing hoodies but are organized by teams with a wider staff, and that the need for cybersecurity has increased significantly.

"Mask, distance and hygiene have been underlined as the most basic precaution in the pandemic period. However, the continuity of the need for online security has not been emphasized as much. The cyberattack on the pipeline operator in the U.S. has once again demonstrated the risk vulnerabilities can create," he added.

Hard to find employees

Sobutay stressed that there is no information security department in universities yet and employees have learned while working at the firm, he added that they have difficulty finding talent with the right skills.

"We serve private and public institutions with staff with high technical competencies in network and information security, business continuity, virtualization, network infrastructure and integrated data systems, disaster recovery center applications and designs," he said.

Experienced employees are not easy to find, Sobutay said. "We are an engineering company that produces high-level services and solutions for the security, efficiency, continuity, effective use, improvement and regulation of information resources. That is why we must see ourselves as a school. We are constantly striving to find new employees."

Demand for English education triples

Institutions undergoing change have also begun reviewing the competencies of their employees. The use of technology to increase foreign language skills has also become a top trend.

As online education continues to grow steadily amid the pandemic, institutions have also moved their education to online platforms.

Demand for Cambly, an English training platform with over 25,000 trainers and over 10 million users all over the world, has tripled, and the number of companies from Turkey preferring Cambly has exceeded 300.

Expressing that the demand by institutions for their employees has tripled during the pandemic process, Cambly Turkey's General Manager Emre Şimdi confirmed that more than 300 companies in Turkey are offering English education support to their employees with Cambly.

Şimdi further pointed out that online education not only contributes to practical learning but also increases the speed of learning and individuals’ participation in classes.

"Due to many factors such as advancement in technology, improved user experience, personalized programs based on the level of the user, the online education market is rising rapidly," he noted.

"According to the latest research, the online education market size is expected to hit $375 billion (TL 3.14 trillion) by 2026, while the corporate e-learning market size is expected to exceed $38 billion by 2024. As Cambly Turkey, we think that this interest will grow exponentially in the coming years."