By Clayton Jones, Managing Director, Asia-Pacific for (ISC)²

The past few weeks have been challenging. Governments, individuals and organizations are working hard to contain the spread of Covid-19. Many of us across the Asia-Pacific region are still haunted by the SARS epidemic that wreaked havoc back in 2003. At the time, I had a very young family and was new to (ISC)², which in the region was still in its infancy. I feared for the health of my family and was also very conscious of the potential impact an economic downturn in the region could have on my recently created position.

17 years later, my children are young adults and (ISC)² has grown our membership in the region to over 21,000 cyber security professionals. Life goes on.

Today, our systems are far more robust, integrated and secure. The adoption of cloud has enabled organizations to enhance productivity and resilience while at the same time, offering their workforces far more flexibility.

Governments, organizations and individuals have been extremely proactive in preventing the spread of Covid-19. A good barometer is the stock market; despite initial fears, the stock market has yet to see as big a fall as witnessed during the SARS epidemic. I know some say it’s early days, but there are a lot of positives. To support various local containment measures, organizations have also pitched in by implementing policies which minimise unnecessary contact between people. These include work from home plans and shift work. It is during this period that an organization’s business continuity plan (BCP) is put to the test. For example, with educational institutions closed in Hong Kong, my youngest child now attends classes online in order to continue her studies unimpeded and minimise any residual risks. Again, life goes on.

At the (ISC)² Asia-Pacific office, we have implemented our remote work policy during the Lunar New Year holidays. Despite the challenges that various cities in the region face, we are trying our best to operate a business-per-usual environment and continue to serve our members in the region. Candidates continue working towards their certification objectives – attending our instructor-led online classes and are aided by other self-study products such as the online self-paced training, textbooks and practice tests. Our training partners in the region, following measures established by local health authorities, have introduced regular body temperature checks and are ensuring that sanitization products are available for candidates that prefer to continue training via the in-person class format. All of us are trying to continue with our work commitments while we strive to stay safe from the virus, particularly in this early phase where many questions about Covid-19’s characteristics remain unanswered.

Many of our efforts to ‘plug along’ today are supported by technology. Without appropriate security, we would not be as productive as we are today; our BCP would be a mess. As we applaud the selfless efforts of medical and support personnel on the front lines fighting the good fight, I also honour and thank our members who secure our infrastructure for enabling us to ‘plug along’.

It’s because of all of these efforts that life can truly go on.