The Cyber Attacks In Ukraine And Guidance On How To Remain Secure | Origin Comms

The recent events in Ukraine have brought with them a whole host of atrocities, not only on the physical side, but also on the cyber plane too. With heavy involvement from organised crime groups and state actors, organisations can expect to face more threatening and progressive cyber attacks than they have experienced before. Our client Menlo Security has been giving incredibly insightful daily cybersecurity updates and analysis in relation to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, outlining and explaining some of the key cyber issues as they have arisen.

Meanwhile, The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) released a statement in March encouraging organisations to act following Russia’s cyber-attacks on Ukraine, and improve their cyber resilience with the current heightened threat.

Why this need for extra vigilance?

The ramifications of such cyberattacks can be devastating, causing issues such as financial losses, legal liability and reputational damage. This is demonstrated by the hack on Colonial last May that halted the flow of oil through the largest pipeline in the US.

How can organisations bolster their cybersecurity?

The NCSC has also released guidance to UK organisations to reduce the risk of being a victim to a cyberattack, and they strongly encourage institutions to take these actionable steps to improve security:

1. Check your system patching
The NCSC had recommended that all desktops, laptops, mobile devices, firmware and internet-facing services are patched to protect against any cyber threats. Where there may be any unpatched vulnerabilities, ensure these can be managed with other mitigations.

2. Verify access controls
Asking staff to ensure passwords are unique to your business systems as well as reviewing all accounts with privileged or administrative access is another key step the NCSC recommends for improving security. Carefully reviewing all accounts with privileged or administrative access should help flag any old, unused or unrecognised accounts to be removed. They also recommend having an extensive understanding of the level of access any third party organisations have to your network.

3. Ensure defences are working
Ensure any antivirus software installed is active on all systems and running correctly. The NCSC has some device security guidance that can help with this. Also check that all firewalls are up-to-date and as expected.

4. Incident plan
Ensure you have a thorough, up-to-date incident plan in place, detailing escalation routes, contact details and clarity on who has authority to make critical decisions. See the NCSC’s incident management guidance. The NCSC has a joint industry and government initiative (CiSP) set-up to enable all UK organisations to securely share cyber threat information. They also have an Early Warning service so that you can be warned of any activity reported that may alter your systems. They recommend adding these elements into your incident plan.

5. Phishing response
Phishing is one of the most common forms of malware. Menlo Security recently published a blog about HEAT attacks in which it was stated that 90% of all cyber attacks involve a phishing attack. Confirming you have a process in place to report and deal with any phishing emails is another important step suggested by NCSC — click here to read further guidance on this.

#BeCyberSmart

In September we showed our support for the #BeCyberSmart campaign for cyber security month — which is in October. The idea was to “empower individuals and organisations to own their role in protecting their part of cyberspace.” With the current cyber attacks on Ukraine, the protective measures mentioned in the “ How To Do Your Part And #BeCyberSmart” blog as well as Logpoint’s 5 Ways To Strengthen An Organisation’s Cybersecurity Defences are more important now than ever in order to keep your online data as secure as possible.

Origin Communications, the Cybersecurity PR specialists

At Origin Communications we promote our clients as industry-leading experts in helping businesses stay cyber safe. In 2022, where everything is available online in an instant, it is critical to ensure your business is safe from any cyber threats that are present now, and prepare for any potential future threats.

Get in touch to discuss how we can help with your cybersecurity PR needs.

Originally published at https://origincomms.com on April 11, 2022.