As the ever-looming potential of conflict in Ukraine intensifies and shows no signs of slowing, the UK government issued a stark warning to businesses regarding the increased risk of cyber-attacks from Russian and Belarusian cyber attackers.
Within the last week it had been noted by Ukraine’s Government Cyber Defence team that Russia teamed up with their Belarussian counterparts and have breached and taken down numerous government websites and applications. These were quickly secured and restored. However, there is now a fear that this may have just been an initial test to ‘check the perimeter’ and potentially ‘install backdoors’ within Ukraine’s government cyber security infrastructure.
UK intelligence agencies issued an official warning to UK companies stating, “While we are unaware of any specific cyber threats to UK organisations in relation to events in Ukraine, we are monitoring the situation closely and it is vital that organisations follow the guidance to ensure they are resilient.” Source – https://tinyurl.com/3acuvke4
Some of the key points detailed by the National Cyber Security Centre are there to help you reduce the potential of being targeted. These are:
- Patching Systems – Ensure that the patch version is the most up to date version
- Improving access controls and enabling multi-factor authentication – Two Factor Authentication adds another layer of security to accounts
- Implementing an effective Incident Response Plan (IRP) – Having an IRP is crucial. This will ensure that you know how to respond, what action to take when faced with a genuine cyber threat, and who can help you during and after
- Checking that backups & restore mechanisms work – Backups and redundancy plays a key part in any organisation, so make sure yours is robust and actually works
- Keeping up to date with the latest threat and mitigation information – As the saying goes ‘Knowledge is power’. Sign up for one of the CYBX pay monthly packages, and you will receive a monthly ‘security bulletin’ to help you stay ahead of the latest threats
As the cyber security landscape evolves so must we, to ensure we are at the forefront of the cutting edge as well as ensuring that all bases are covered. As additional threat actors step onto the scene it makes that job just a little bit harder every time.
Help is on hand
If you need help protecting your organisation then please get in touch. Our CYBX team will help you improve the resilience of your organisation’s people, processes and technology.