Small, medium-sized businesses encouraged to bolster cybersecurity amid Russia sanctions
Russia's unprovoked attack on Ukraine may come with consequences for the United States' infrastructure.
The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency warns sanctions placed on Russia may lead to retaliation in the form of virtual attacks on organizations large or small.
"Small, medium-sized businesses are being impacted and nobody's talking about that because it just doesn't make the headlines," said Brandy Griffin, cybersecurity operations specialist.
Griffin works for AVALON Cyber, which protects businesses like banks, law firms and others from attacks.
As director of cybersecurity operations, she says it just wrapped up a breach from a Russian attacker.
Griffin couldn't specify where it took place in the U.S. but says Russian groups and IP addresses are identifiable.
Where they set their targets can be difficult to track.
"It doesn't matter if you're a three-person business or if you're a 300-person business," Griffin said. "If you have an internet connection, and there's a vulnerability that exists, it will be exploited."
U.S. officials say they don't have specific or credible cyber threats, but recommend it's time to prepare for possible disruptions.
University of Nebraska-Omaha assistant professor of cybersecurity recommends "spring cleaning."
"Bring (your) controls up to pace," Dr. George Grispos said. "(If you've) been thinking about implementing two-factor authentication, let's do it now. Let's look at our updates, are we're up to date across all systems? Let's make sure our updates have been downloaded, applied and they working?"
Grispos says Russia's goal is to disrupt lives.
Larger corporations and infrastructures in the region are preparing.
Union Pacific says it receives daily intelligence reports from multiple government agencies.
OPPD says it's analyzing all security risks in order to protect critical infrastructure.
NPPD says it has regular contact with federal, state, and local government security partners.
As for your local business, experts recommend multifactor authentication security controls for devices, security awareness programs and monitoring firewalls.
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