The United States and its allies have moved to block some Russian banks from the SWIFT international payment system. In response to the United States' stand against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, experts are predicting that Russia and its supporters will target financial institutions and other U.S. businesses and organizations by launching cyber attacks.
Financial Institutions, business and other U.S.-based organizations must prepare for all types of cyber attacks including ransomware and malware attacks, denial-of-service attacks that take down websites, data wiping and theft, possibly simultaneously.
Here's are the actions that we know so far that have been taken against the Ukraine.
- Malware — New malware dubbed WhisperGate requests ransom payment and destroys files even if the ransom is paid.
- Website Defacement — 70 attempts have been made to deface Ukrainian government websites with 10 being successful.
- Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks — Targets include Ukraine’s armed forces, defense ministry, public radio, and 2 large banks. Several vital services were turned offline, and people were unable to access their bank accounts, use mobile apps, or issue online payments.
- Many suspect a potential attack on the Ukrainian power grid as was executed during the 2015 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In the short term, ThreatAdvice recommends the following:
- Remind employees of the role they play in keeping your business secure. For example, employees should actively look out for indicators of a potential business email compromise attack.
- Be skeptical—Last-minute changes in wiring instructions or recipient account information must be verified.
- Double check that URL—Ensure the URL in the email is associated with the business it claims to be from.
- Spelling counts—Be alert to misspelled hyperlinks in the actual domain name.
- Be sure users have updated their systems and applications to the latest release which typically includes latest security enhancements.
ThreatAdvice can provide necessary assistance to financial institutions and other companies and organizations in preparation for a cyber attack.
Our goal is to assist businesses in taking a stand against cyber attacks and support our nation in this time of need. Our team becomes a part of your team helping you get prepared for the upcoming cyber battle by providing 24/7 access to our team, breach assistance, vulnerability scans, network assessment, IT Security Policy Templates, Annual IT Security Risk Assessment, etc. We are your armed forces providing tools needed in combat and a game plan in preparation for a cyber battle.
Let us know if we can help! We are glad to provide a free 30 minute security consultation. Just contact us with your information.
