It’s time to check your defenses against the threat of Russian cyber attack

While the cyber security of your business should always be a high priority, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine means that businesses, especially US businesses, are at an increased risk of cyber-attack.

President Joe Biden warned U.S. business leaders on Monday that “evolving intelligence” suggests Russia is preparing cyberattacks against the U.S. in retaliation for the?harsh economic sanctions?imposed on the country for invading Ukraine.

But what does this mean for your business?

Advice from the official agencies urges businesses to increase security measures and follow its guidance on the steps to take when cyber security risk is heightened.

Businesses of all sizes will be at risk as the aim will be to cause as much disruption as possible.

It means that you can’t afford to slack off on your usual cyber security measures. If there’s something you’ve been meaning to get around to doing, now is the time.

The first thing you need to make sure you have in place is a working backup and that those backups are either offsite or totally segregated from your normal network. Should you be hit by a cyber-attack or ransomware, you will still be able to access all of your data and documents provided the bad actors cannot reach the backups too.

Ensure that all your applications, systems and devices are running the latest updates, and that any relevant patches are in place. You should also make sure best practice is being followed when it comes to password hygiene.?Have policies in place that force your employees to change their password on a regular basis and to a complex never before used password.

Make sure your employees use password managers like lastpass, roboform or one that your IT provider recommends.?This will ensure your whole team uses unique passwords that are less susceptible to brute force attacks. You should also strongly consider using multi-factor authentication (where you get a login code on another device) across your applications for a higher level of security.?This is especially important if you allow remote access or use cloud services like Office 365

Check your incident response and recovery plan is up-to-date and that everyone is aware of the steps they should take if the suspect a security breach. You do have an incident response plan don’t you??Your team need to know who to report a possible breach to, and who is responsible for protecting the business.

You should also consider company-wide cyber security training. And this really does mean everyone from the most senior employee to the most junior. This will help to make everyone aware of the most common threats, and teach them how to spot scams and phishing emails.??Most cyber insurance policies are requiring this now.

Finally, if you’re unsure that you have the right protections in place, speak to an expert, like our team, who can help put your mind at ease and make sure your business is as protected as possible.

We’re here to help. If you have concerns that your cyber security has fallen behind or your IT provider is not protecting, you.?Call us, and we’ll check with a no obligation IT risk assessment.