Anxiety is running high as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, particularly in cybersecurity circles. The 2017 NotPetya attack was a Russian cyber-weapon fired at the Ukraine.  In 2017, NotPetya spread to FedEx, Maersk, Merck, and several other companies, and it would be naïve not to expect a spillover from the 2022 attack.  Indeed, a barrage of similar “wipers” has already been fired in 2022, and reports are circulating that some computers in Lithuania have been impacted.

Many cyber-weapons are delivered through phishing attacks, and companies can take three important steps to help prevent these attacks:

• Send out a training reminder to all employees about spotting and avoiding phish email that may carry the malware into your environment.
• Recognize that training will not be enough; increase filtering for malicious messages.
• Push for multi-factor authentication for remote access to email.

In the background, make sure that your tech team is keeping up with the latest information.  CISA and other agencies issued a warning on Wednesday that the group behind the NotPetya attack (Voodoo Bear) has deployed new malicious code. CISA also has a fantastic “Shields Up” page with more specific recommended steps that companies can take, including the following:

Reduce the likelihood of a damaging cyber intrusion

• Validate that all remote access to the organization’s network and privileged or administrative access requires multi-factor authentication.
• Ensure that software is up to date, prioritizing updates that address known exploited vulnerabilities identified by CISA.
• Confirm that the organization’s IT personnel have disabled all ports and protocols that are not essential for business purposes.
• If the organization is using cloud services, ensure that IT personnel have reviewed and implemented strong controls outlined in CISA’s guidance.
• Sign up for CISA’s free cyber hygiene services, including vulnerability scanning, to help reduce exposure to threats.

Take steps to quickly detect a potential intrusion

• Ensure that cybersecurity/IT personnel are focused on identifying and quickly assessing any unexpected or unusual network behavior. Enable logging in order to better investigate issues or events.
• Confirm that the organization’s entire network is protected by antivirus/antimalware software and that signatures in these tools are updated.
• If working with Ukrainian organizations, take extra care to monitor, inspect, and isolate traffic from those organizations; closely review access controls for that traffic.

Ensure that the organization is prepared to respond if an intrusion occurs

• Designate a crisis-response team with main points of contact for a suspected cybersecurity incident and roles/responsibilities within the organization, including technology, communications, legal and business continuity.
• Assure availability of key personnel; identify means to provide surge support for responding to an incident.
• Conduct a tabletop exercise to ensure that all participants understand their roles during an incident.

Maximize the organization’s resilience to a destructive cyber incident

• Test backup procedures to ensure that critical data can be rapidly restored if the organization is impacted by ransomware or a destructive cyberattack; ensure that backups are isolated from network connections.
• If using industrial control systems or operational technology, conduct a test of manual controls to ensure that critical functions remain operable if the organization’s network is unavailable or untrusted.

We hope that the spillover is not significant, but these preparatory steps can help mitigate the risk. We will continue to monitor for cyber developments. Subscribe to RopesDataphiles.com for updates.