The conflict in Ukraine has escalated the cyber security landscape beyond just within the borders of the two countries involved. Across Europe, Asia, and the rest of the world, businesses, governments, and organizations are on notice of the potential fallout of cyber-focused malicious activity.
In an interview with Irish network RTE, one security expert says that Russian-based attacks would escalate significantly over the coming months.
“We’re warning everybody to be uber alert, to be extremely careful,” he said. “To treat the internet as hostile in everything you do over the coming days and weeks.”
How cybersecurity threats are increasing
Russian intelligence is suspected of launching a large-scale Denial of Service (DoS) attack on Ukrainian infrastructure. A Ukrainian government agency went as far as calling it the “largest DDoS attack in the country’s history.” This attack was targeted at government agencies, utilities, communications and other critical infrastructure organizations.
Ukrainian companies, utilities, and agencies were also hit with a large-scale “data wiper” attack – the second attack of its kind this year. This is like a ransomware attack except instead of encrypting files, the malware deletes files.
The White House recently warned that U.S. agencies, utilities, and other infrastructure organizations could be targeted in response to sanctions or any direct military action. This targeting could take the form of DoS, ransomware, wiper ware, or other attacks designed to distract and reduce our government’s will to oppose Russia.
Late last year, the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency reported an increase in global ransomware threats. These attacks could impact government agencies, media, communications, and other “big game targets.” The threats only plan to boost with attackers looking to take advantage of distracted organizations.
More than ten times more attacks have been observed in Ukraine over the last couple of weeks – especially phishing attacks.
How to protect your organization from cyber attacks
While building out a robust cybersecurity plan can seem overwhelming, it’s never too late to put basic cyber security measures in place.
Our partners at ICE Cybersecurity gave us tips to help businesses reduce their risk to attacks.
- Run proactive scans and checks against your internet-facing attack surface.
- Check your security system health with regular proactive-checks
- Look for alerts or anomalies that could indicate attack
- Back up policies, procedures, and contact information (encrypted, offline of course) in case widespread outages impact access to information
Choose a partner to watch your back
It can feel daunting to approach cybersecurity on your own. That’s why it’s important to pair with an experienced team of security professionals to audit and monitor your online systems.
ICE Cybersecurity continuously keeps tabs on the threat landscape and reported attacks. Together, we are increasing our capacity to monitor and respond to any alerts we receive as a precaution.
BlueStone’s proprietary CyberASAP process significantly reduces cyber insurance premiums, broadens key coverages, and protects your network ecosystem. Give your business the protection it needs from cyber criminals. It’s never been more important than right now to assess your current vulnerabilities as an organization.
Contact BlueStone Advisors to learn more.