March 2022

Companies Urged To Stay Vigilant With Cybersecurity Practices Due To Concerns About Russia-Based Cyber Attacks

In the wake of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, numerous government agencies and security industry authorities are warning public, private and not for profit entities to be more vigilant than ever for cyber-attacks, whether from Russia or its allies or other countries and bad actors being opportunistic.

Best practices should focus on the following:

1. Phishing: Phishing and related scams are when cyber attackers attempt to trick or fool you into doing something you should not do. Often these scams are sent as emails, but they can also come by text messaging, phone calls or on social media. Anytime someone is creating a tremendous sense of urgency and rushing you to take an action (like clicking a link, opening an attachment, visiting another site or resetting your credentials) or someone is promoting an offer that is too good to be true, this is most likely an attack;

2. Passwords: Strong passwords are the key to protecting your online, digital life. Make sure each of your accounts is protected by a unique, long password. The longer your password the better. Change passwords periodically (the shorter the password, the more often it should be changed). Do not recycle passwords, and do not use them on multiple accounts;

3. Multifactor Authentication: Whenever possible, enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) on your accounts – business, personal and including SaaS resources, online banking and social media accounts;

4. Updating: Keep your personal computers, devices and apps updated and current by enabling automatic updating on all your devices. Cyber attackers are constantly looking for new vulnerabilities in the devices and software you use; and

5. If in doubt, pick up the phone! If you receive an unexpected, unsolicited or odd message, call the known source (not the number in the suspect communication) and verify the source and the message.

Finally, if you wish to donate to any causes in support of recent events, once again make sure you are donating to a well-known, trusted charity. There will be many scams attempting to trick people into donating to fake charities ran by cyber criminals.

Please contact your CSG Law attorney or one of the authors listed below if you have any questions.