European, U.S. Regulators Tell Banks to Prepare for Russian Cyberattack Threat
The New York Department of Financial Services issued an alert to financial institutions in late January, warning of retaliatory cyber attacks should Russia invade Ukraine and trigger U.S. sanctions, according to Thomson Reuters' Regulatory Intelligence.
HIGH ALERT
The United States, the European Union and Britain have repeatedly warned Putin against attacking Ukraine after Russia deployed around 100,000 troops near the border with its former Soviet neighbor.
Earlier this year, multiple Ukrainian websites were hit by a cyber strike that left a warning to "be afraid and expect the worst", as Russia had amassed troops near Ukraine's borders.
Ukraine's state security service SBU said it saw signs the attack was linked to hacker groups associated with Russian intelligence services.
Russian officials say the West is gripped by Russophobia and has no right to lecture Moscow on how to act after it expanded the NATO military alliance eastwards since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union.
The Kremlin has also repeatedly denied the Russian state has anything to do with hacking around the world and said it is ready to cooperate with the United States and others to crack down on cyber crime.
The White House has also blamed Russia for the devastating ‘NotPetya’ cyber attack in 2017, when a virus crippled parts of Ukraine’s infrastructure, taking down thousands of computers in dozens of countries.
The vulnerability was underscored again last year, when one of the globe's largest-yet hacking campaigns used a U.S. tech company as a springboard to compromise a raft of U.S. government agencies, an attack the White House blamed on Russia’s foreign intelligence services.
The attack breached software made by SolarWinds Corp, giving hackers access to thousands of companies using its products, rippling through Europe, where Denmark's central bank said that the country's "financial infrastructure" had been hit.
Understanding and Mitigating Russian State-Sponsored Cyber Threats to U.S. Critical Infrastructure
This joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA) is authored by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and National Security Agency (NSA). It is part of their continuing cybersecurity mission to warn organizations of cyber threats and help the cybersecurity community reduce the risk presented by these threats. This CSA provides an overview of Russian state-sponsored cyber operations; commonly observed tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs); detection actions; incident response guidance; and mitigations. This overview is intended to help the cybersecurity community reduce the risk presented by these threats.
CISA, the FBI, and NSA encourage the cybersecurity community—especially critical infrastructure network defenders—to adopt a heightened state of awareness and to conduct proactive threat hunting, as outlined in the Detection section. Additionally, CISA, the FBI, and NSA strongly urge network defenders to implement the recommendations listed below and detailed in the Mitigations section. These mitigations will help organizations improve their functional resilience by reducing the risk of compromise or severe business degradation.
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Be prepared. Confirm reporting processes and minimize personnel gaps in IT/OT security coverage. Create, maintain, and exercise a cyber incident response plan, resilience plan, and continuity of operations plan so that critical functions and operations can be kept running if technology systems are disrupted or need to be taken offline.
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Enhance your organization’s cyber posture. Follow best practices for identity and access management, protective controls and architecture, and vulnerability and configuration management.
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Increase organizational vigilance. Stay current on reporting on this threat. Subscribe to CISA’s mailing list and feeds to receive notifications when CISA releases information about a security topic or threat.
CISA, the FBI, and NSA encourage critical infrastructure organization leaders to review CISA Insights: Preparing for and Mitigating Cyber Threats for information on reducing cyber threats to their organization.
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What is an IT Security Framework and Why Is It Important ? |
What is an IT security framework?
An IT security framework is a series of documented processes that define policies and procedures around the implementation and ongoing management of information security controls. These frameworks are a blueprint for managing risk and reducing vulnerabilities.
Information security professionals use frameworks to define and prioritize the tasks required to manage enterprise security. Frameworks are also used to help prepare for compliance and other IT audits. Therefore, the framework must support specific requirements defined in the standard or regulation.
Organizations can customize frameworks to solve specific information security problems, such as industry-specific requirements or different regulatory compliance goals. Frameworks also come in varying degrees of complexity and scale. Today's frameworks often overlap, so it's important to select a framework that effectively supports operational, compliance and audit requirements.
Why are frameworks important?
Frameworks provide a starting point for establishing processes, policies and administrative activities for information security management.
Security requirements often overlap, which results in "crosswalks" that can be used to demonstrate compliance with different regulatory standards. For example, ISO 27002 defines information security policy in Section 5; Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (COBIT) defines it in the "Align, Plan and Organize" section; the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) framework defines it as "Internal Environment;" HIPAA defines it as "Assigned Security Responsibility;" and PCI DSS defines it in the "Maintain an Information Security Policy" section.
Using a common framework, such as ISO 27002, an organization can establish crosswalks to demonstrate compliance with multiple regulations, including HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley, PCI DSS and Graham-Leach-Bliley.
How to choose an IT security framework
The choice to use a particular IT security framework can be driven by multiple factors. The type of industry or compliance requirements could be deciding factors. Publicly traded companies, for example, may wish to use COBIT to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley, while the healthcare sector may consider HITRUST. The ISO 27000 Series of information security frameworks, on the other hand, is applicable in public and private sectors.
While ISO standards are often time-consuming to implement, they are helpful when an organization needs to demonstrate its information security capabilities via ISO 27000 certification. While NIST Special Publication (SP) 800-53 is the standard required by U.S. federal agencies, it can be used by any organization to build a technology-specific information security plan.
These frameworks help security professionals organize and manage an information security program. The only bad choice among these frameworks is not choosing any of them.
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We Have MORE Exciting News! |
As we reported last month, 2022 started with exciting changes for AaSys. And we have even more exciting news! We have started a new series called Compliance Conundrum on LinkedIn! Do you know what factors should be considered when determining a Reasonably Expected Market Area (REMA)? Are you concerned your customers are appropriately rated for money laundering, terrorist financing and other illicit crimes risk? Send us your compliance questions and our team of highly skilled experts will provide feedback!
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Virtual Conferencing Safely and Securely |
What is Virtual Conferencing?
With so many of us now working from home, you are most likely finding yourself remotely connecting with your co-workers using virtual conferencing solutions like Zoom, Slack, or Microsoft Teams. Your family members - perhaps even your children – may also be using these same technologies to connect with friends or for remote learning. Regardless of why you are connecting, here are key steps you can take to make the most of these technologies safely and securely.
Attending a Virtual Conference
If you will be attending a virtual conference, here are five key steps.
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Update the Software: Make sure you are always using the latest version of the conferencing software. The more recent and updated your software, the more secure you will be. Enable automatic updating and quit your program when done, so it can check for the latest updates the next time you restart.
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Configure Audio / Video Settings: Set your preferences to mute your microphone and turn off your video when joining a meeting and enable them only when you want. Consider placing a webcam cover or tape over your computer’s camera to ensure privacy when you’re not actively broadcasting. Remember: if your camera is on, everyone can see what you are doing even when you are not talking.
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Double-Check What’s Behind You: If you want to enable your webcam, be aware of what’s behind you. Ensure you do not have any personal or sensitive information visible behind you during a call. Some video conferencing software lets you blur or use a virtual background, so people cannot see what is behind you.
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Don’t Share Your Invite: The invite link is your personal ticket to enter the meeting. Even if a trusted co-worker needs the link, it’s much better they ask the conference organizer for their own invite.
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Do Not Record: Do not take screenshots of or record the conference call without permission. You could accidentally share very sensitive information if those screenshots or recordings become public.
Hosting a Virtual Conference
If you will be hosting a virtual conference, here are some additional steps you should take.
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Require a Password: To protect the privacy and security of your conference and control who can join, protect your meeting with a password. This way only people who have the conference password can join the event.
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Review Attendees: Review the people attending your event. If there is someone you do not know or cannot identify, have that person confirm their identity. If you have any concerns, or if someone is being rude or disruptive, remove them from the conference. Many solutions offer the option to lock the conference once it has begun, so no one else can join unless you let them in. Another option may be to initially place people in a virtual waiting room, so you can approve who joins the call.
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Inform if Recording: If you intend to record the event (and have permission to record), be sure to inform everyone on the conference ahead of time.
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Sharing Your Screen: If you will be sharing your computer screen at any point, be sure to first close all other applications and remove any sensitive files from your computer’s desktop. Also disable any pop-up notifications. This helps ensure you don’t accidently share sensitive or embarrassing information while sharing your computer screen. Another option is to consider sharing just the program you want to show instead of sharing your entire computer screen.
These technologies are a fantastic tool and, in many ways, represent the future of how we will work, collaborate, and communicate with others. These simple steps will go a long way to ensure you safely and securely make the most of them.
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2022 Company Holidays
Monday, February 21, 2022 - President's Day
Monday, May 30, 2022 - Memorial Day
Monday, June 20, 2022 - Juneteenth National Independence Day
Monday, July 4, 2022 - Independence Day
Monday, September 5, 2022 - Labor Day
Monday, October 10, 2022 - Columbus Day
Friday, November 11, 2022 - Veterans Day
Thursday, November 24, 2022 - Thanksgiving Day
Saturday, December 24, 2022 - Christmas Eve Day
Monday, December 26, 2022 - Christmas Day (Observed)
Monday, January 2, 2023 - New Year's Day (Observed)
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AaSys Group, Inc.
11301 North US Highway 301
Suite 106
Thonotosassa, FL 33592
(813) 246-4757 Phone
(813) 246-4576 Fax
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