This week the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a Shields Up alert. CISA states, “CISA recommends all organizations—regardless of size—adopt a heightened posture when it comes to cybersecurity and protecting their most critical assets” due to the heightened tension in Europe between Russia and Ukraine. Previously Russia has targeted businesses and organizations within the United States. During this time they may do so again during this heightened state of alert. CISA has not reported any specific current threats, but it raising awareness for all organizations within the United States
Are you at risk
There is this notion that small businesses will not be targeted by cyberattacks. This is false! Businesses of all sizes are targets and fall victim to cyberattacks.
Nation States will target small businesses they can link to larger organizations as part of the supply chain. They will also attack small businesses for the data and information they have and sell it for profit.
What you can do
The number one thing you can do is to be vigilant of your network and website. The next thing you can do is raise awareness of the Shields Up alert with your employees. Some of the methods of attack may include phishing emails, business email compromise attacks, and denial of service attacks. Let your team know what attacks may look like to help prepare them.
Lastly, it is important to have a plan of action in place if you do notice a cyberattack is occurring against your small business. This allows you to better implement any measures needed to stop the attack and to remediate it, hopefully with minimal disruption.
For more information on cybersecurity like this Shields Up alert and other important cybersecurity news, check out Small Business, Big Threat! Check out the Access Resource page for more!