Another holiday weekend, another reason to be cyber vigilant!
CISA and the FBI released a warning ahead of Thanksgiving weekend reminding Critical Infrastructure to stay extra vigilant.
Whilst we make plans to enjoy some quality time off, malicious cyber actors are getting ready to deploy ransomware and implement attacks. It is no secret that most workers will be on vacation, prompting threat actors to take advantage and attempt to infiltrate networks and systems across industries and cause havoc. If you’ve been following the cyber news trends, you’ll have noted that critical infrastructure is a prime target for hackers from across the globe, due to its importance and large-scale impact.
Even if critical infrastructure isn’t your concern, the steps to extra vigilance recommended by CISA are simple to implement and will benefit every size organization across industries:
- Identify IT security employees for weekends and holidays who would be available to surge during these times in the event of an incident or ransomware attack.
- Implement multi-factor authentication for remote access and administrative accounts.
- Mandate strong passwords and ensure they are not reused across multiple accounts.
- If you use remote desktop protocol (RDP) or any other potentially risky service, ensure it is secure and monitored.
- Remind employees not to click on suspicious links, and conduct exercises to raise awareness.
Three top scams to look out for:
- Phishing scams, such as unsolicited emails posing as charitable organizations.
- Fraudulent sites spoofing reputable businesses—it is possible malicious actors will target sites often visited by users doing their holiday shopping online.
- Unencrypted financial transactions.
And finally, review your incident response and business continuity plans and ensure minimal impact should the worst happen.
Risk management using the Centraleyes platform can provide you with peace of mind every holiday weekend, giving you an exact assessment of your cybersecurity posture.
