What’s Happening?
The results of the conflict in Ukraine will definitely include cyber-attacks on Western economies as Russia responds to economic sanctions (which it perceives as warfare) by increasing the activities of its already formidable cyber capability.
Prior to the invasion threat was already ramping up. Rob Lee, the CEO of Dragos (a US cybersecurity firm) was reported in the Harvard Business Review:
“We have observed threat groups that have been attributed to the Russian government by U.S. government agencies performing reconnaissance against U.S. industrial infrastructure, including key electric and natural gas sites in recent months.”
The European Central Bank (ECB) was also reported to be warning European financial institutions of the risk of retaliatory Russian cyber-attacks in the event of sanctions and related market disruptions.
The potential for collateral (and direct) damage is enormous. Keith Alexander (former director of the US National Security Agency) writing in the FT reminded us that in the last five years, Russia launched the NotPetya attack against Ukrainian power, transportation, and financial systems, which rippled to companies in the US, the UK, France, Germany and India, leading to an estimated global cost of over $10bn. When sanctions bite, the attacks will be more direct and damaging.
What Can I Do?
There is potential for supply-chain and infrastructure disruption and other impacts that are not under your control, but there is an urgent need to protect your own systems and security to make sure you can stay operational while cyber-attacks roam about randomly and indiscriminately.
The UK Government’s National Cyber Security Centre makes recommendations that are a good starting point for defending against attacks – for small businesses, go to www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/small-business-guide and for larger enterprises (where a staff member is specifically dedicated to system security), to www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/10-steps. Each of these guides provides a set of easy to follow steps that include tips on how to stay safe. They may not be the most sophisticated options, but not checking that you are complying with all the suggestions means that you are much more likely to be a victim of an attack that could take you out of business permanently.
If you are comfortable that you are compliant with all the UK recommendations, then it’s time to look at the advice from CISA (the US Cyber & Infrastructure Security Agency. Start at www.cisa.gov/uscert/ncas/tips and work through the tips provided. Once you’ve implemented all the relevant tips from this agency, you will have a greater level of resilience to attacks.
The Wait & See Option
Make no mistake, there will be disruption and enterprises with the least resilience to cyber-attack will be driven out of business as a result. The threats may not be targeted against your company specifically but, guess what, they don’t care. The agenda is disruption and there won’t be any surgical precision in the attacks. You can’t afford to wait and see.
Urgently review your current level of protection and take the necessary steps to make sure it is upgraded to a high level of resilience.
If you would like to talk to one of our associates about the next best steps for your precious enterprise, then please feel free to get in touch. We can help you to assess the level of risk you face and develop a priority action list and even put you in touch with trusted experts that will help you move from vulnerable to resilient in the shortest possible time.
