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The outbreak of COVID-19 across the world has led to massive changes in the way we go about our lives. We are now more reliant on distance working and working from home. We are attending events and meetings via Zoom and other such apps and downloading and uploading documents outside the office. We are shopping online more, and even attending dance and exercise classes through the Internet. All these shifts in the way we live, work and play have become the new norm and technology is playing a more important role than ever.
More stringent hygiene practices is another area that we have had to adapt to. On a personal level, wearing a mask when we go out, washing our hands regularly, sanitizing our grocery shopping and other items we have bought, keeping our living environment clean, and even disinfecting ourselves when we return home have all become the new norm. Enhanced hygiene measures also apply to large-scale premises, including shops, public utilities, schools, offices, residential blocks and transport hubs.
On top of all this, special precautions have had to be put into place to avoid any further spread of the outbreak. Temperature taking, for instance, has become a standard procedure when entering a shop, restaurant, office, and other public places such as banks, libraries, hospitals, etc.
This new norm has given rise to new opportunities to help us adapt to the changes and fight the virus. Technology has proved invaluable for us to continue to work and, in some cases, work even more efficiently than before. It can also actively reduce the risk of the virus spreading and replace humans in the some of the risky front-line tasks such as temperature checking.
Guardforce Hong Kong, for example, has developed a Fever-Guard solution which combines CCTV with thermal imaging to measure the body temperatures of people passing by in large spaces without the need for stopping subjects or potentially exposing inspectors to infection. Integrating the system with access control can physically stop anyone entering a premises who does not pass the temperature check.
Another opportunity arising from the pandemic is the use of robotics to help keep social distancing, as well as eliminating risky jobs for humans. There are various kinds of innovative robotics performing a number of tasks as we speak, from medicine and food deliveries, disinfection of workplaces and hospitals, use as communication tools between patients and doctors in Italy, conducting coronavirus tests, etc. These are all effective ways to keep humans safe during the virus outbreak.
Again, Guardforce is on the forefront of robotic technology with innovations such as the Smart VirusGuard (seen below) which disinfects premises constantly and consistently.
You can read more about this and other anti-epidemic robotic solutions here.
The reliance on unsecure Wi-Fi, online tools and the use of mobile apps during the pandemic has increased the risk of cyber attack. There has been an upward trend in hacker activity during the COVID-19 period, including a rapid increase in COVID-19 related phishing scams peddling bogus coronavirus vaccines and tests and a worrying jump in the amount of Ransomware attacks. As such, it is vital that individuals and companies keep on top of cybersecurity.
There are a number of cybersecurity solutions on the market, but enterprises especially should be looking for a Unified Threat Management (UTM) solution such as Guardforce Real-time Insured Defence (GRID). This system is not only a comprehensive information security solution for all networked corporate assets that have an IP address, it also includes a 7 x 24 professional network monitoring service and cyber crisis management expenses protection and is eligible for Hong Kong’s Distance Business Programme (“D-Biz Programme”) funding.
Though the pandemic has dramatically changed the way we live, there are plenty of opportunities to safeguard your staff and network right now and come out of the crisis even stronger than before. To learn more about anti-epidemic solutions and cybersecurity, contact Guardforce here.
See Guardforce’s smart anti-epidemic solutions in action:
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