Increased demand for video conferencing due to COVID-19… Cisco Webex usage doubles compared to pre-pandemic levels
Published2020.04.09 08:35Maximum daily usage doubled compared to pre-COVID-19 levels
9 million new subscribers with free security solution support
Cisco Systems announced on the 8th that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the usage of its video conferencing solution 'Cisco Webex' is increasing, and the use of cybersecurity solutions by companies is also surging.
Webex recorded growth rates of 3.5 times in the Asia-Pacific region, 2.5 times in the Americas, and 4 times in Europe as demand increased recently due to the spread of COVID-19.
Webex Meeting usage exceeded approximately 73 million during the month of March, with a daily peak of 4.2 million, more than double the average daily peak usage prior to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The total number of users for the month was 324 million, and the maximum number of new online subscribers per day was recorded at 240,000. Total usage time for Webex Meetings during the month of March also rose to 14 billion minutes, more than double the amount from last February.
A Cisco official emphasized that special attention and management of cybersecurity are necessary, as various threats are emerging that aim to access users' applications and data by exploiting potential security vulnerabilities in video conferencing solutions, including malicious domains using COVID-19 as a theme and phishing attacks.
On March 10, Cisco announced the expansion of free licenses for its security solutions as part of its COVID-19 response support measures. Since the announcement of this expanded support, more than 9 million people have started using Cisco security solutions, and the number of users is rising sharply every day.
Cisco's security team stated that due to the continued increase in remote work at companies, requests for security support are increasing by at least 10 times every week compared to before the spread of COVID-19.
From March 9 to 30, the number of free trial applications for Cisco AnyConnect (VPN) exceeded 240% of the total number of free trial applications in 2019. In addition, the number of applications for free Cisco Umbrella (DNS layer security) licenses online increased by 100% compared to the average from March 23 to 30.
Duo Security, a multi-factor authentication (MFA) solution that has not yet been launched in Korea, has secured 3,300 new corporate users worldwide from March 23 to 30, and the demand for security solutions continues to grow, with weekly sign-ups increasing by up to 200%.
Cho Beom-gu, CEO of Cisco Korea, said, “Remote work will gradually spread even after COVID-19 subsides,” and “security, such as data protection and secure communication, will be prioritized during remote work.”
Meanwhile, Cisco is offering Webex Meetings, which allows up to 1,000 participants, to companies for free for 90 days.
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