The latest high-profile warning came from the White House on March 21, announcing an increase in cyberattacks. US intelligence has identified corresponding activities by state-backed Russian attackers who aim to compromise Western infrastructure. President Biden tweeted:
“I have previously warned about the possibility that Russia could conduct malicious cyber activity against the United States. Today I reiterate these warnings based on new evidence that the Russian government is exploring options for potential cyberattacks.”
Additionally, the White House also released a “ FACT SHEET ” with advice for organizations, particularly critical infrastructure operators.
Many security researchers and cybersecurity experts are also concerned about a potential calm before the storm in cyberspace related to the Russia-Ukraine war. Chet Wisniewski, Canadian IT security expert at Sophos, breaks down the current situation from his perspective.
The FACT SHEET
The advice on the information sheet is spot on. It calls on organizations to do exactly what experts and researchers have been preaching for some time. What's particularly welcome is that the statement not only lists the key security technologies and policies for effective defense, but also includes things that "technology and software companies" must do to have a secure foundation on which to build apps.
The political statement
President Biden's direct statement is attention-grabbing, but not very informative when it comes to concrete facts. Even though the US has information about Russian activities, it appears unwilling to share much of it with the public. White House cybersecurity adviser Ann Neuberger attended a press conference Monday afternoon and answered questions from the press.
Neuberger reiterated that there was no specific threat, but also acknowledged that the FBI and CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) had held classified briefings with around 100 organizations that they believed were most at risk. In general, the statement was that U.S. intelligence believes it has observed a lot of scouting and scanning activity by known Russian cyber groups, suggesting they may be seeking access to more American networks.
Unfortunately, this likely portends a “next phase” in this war.
The next phase of cyber conflict . Development is making the “cyberwar fog” even thicker than it already is.
As the ground advance appears to be stalling and global sanctions are starting to bite, Russia and related cyber groups may now seek to initiate retaliatory measures against those they believe are the main culprits in the current situation. The problem is that in addition to the Ukrainian IT Army and Anonymous advocating for Ukraine, we also have Russian patriots and criminal groups like Conti potentially throwing their hat in the ring. This development makes the “cyberwar fog” even thicker than it already is.
Poorly protected
Worse still is the abysmal state of security in unregulated, private organizations in general. Every day we deal with companies that have only a portion of their assets protected, keep few or no logs, are months if not years behind in patching their systems, or have open remote access to the Internet with one-factor authentication feature. The good news is that at least the largest and most important private-sector critical infrastructure appears to be in satisfactory security shape, but state and local security is as bad or worse than that of private sector companies.
There is significant risk here if things escalate. The White House doesn't make these kinds of statements every day, so these are clearly extraordinary times. The investment backlog in IT security has not just started today, but that does not mean that it is too late or that we should no longer address the issue at all.
Urgent need for action
fact sheet published by the US government . If organizations are unsure where to start, existing, external contacts with security experts can be included to help prioritize the most important changes that can be made in a timely manner to ensure IT security is stronger tomorrow is than today. It also makes sense to create an emergency plan in the event of a successful cyber attack and to involve external MTR expert teams who can keep an eye on a company around the clock.
The best time to prepare for an incident is now. It's rare that the US president is worried enough about a security risk to mention it personally. In the end, though, it doesn't matter whether your opponents are Russian spies, ransomware criminals, or script kiddies - my advice is always the same: It's high time to raise your shields , as CISA puts it.
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