Stay one step ahead of the hackers. Don’t be the next headline. 

As the world becomes more interconnected, the risk of large-scale cyber-attacks increases, especially for companies of critical importance such as those from the financial sector, healthcare, critical infrastructure, and government services.  

In the event of a cyberwar, the first casualties would be our data. Ironically, one of the sectors that neglect cyber security the most is healthcare. The other ones are the governments. To protect our information, we need to act proactively when it comes to data security.  

How to keep our data safe in times of cyberwar? 

1. Use strong passwords and enable two-factor authentication. 
2. Encrypt your data. 
3. Back up your data regularly. 
4. Make your team aware of phishing attacks and other social engineering techniques. 
5. Keep corporate software up to date. 
6. Use a firewall and antivirus software. 
7. Be careful about what you and your employees share online. 

By following these simple rules, you will ensure the prevention of the most frequent attacks. 

The threat of cyberattacks is on the rise. In the past year alone, we’ve seen high-profile attacks never seen before, such as REvil, Colonial Pipeline, Kaseya, and Log4j, which had an impact worldwide. And even though these attacks make headlines, they’re just the tip of the iceberg.  

Every day, small businesses and individuals are targeted by cybercriminals. 75% of companies worldwide were victims of phishing in 2020. in 2020. Cybercriminals use social engineering and phishing in 98% of attacks. Many of these attacks could have been prevented if the staff received proper cybersecurity awareness training.  

What is a cyberattack?  

A cyberattack is any type of malicious attack on a computer system or network. Cyberattacks can be used to steal or destroy data or disrupt services. They can be perpetrated by anyone with the skills and motivation to do so, from individuals to organized crime groups, in some cases even nation-states.  

What are the consequences of a data breach? 

From the loss of trust and diminished reputation to having to pay impossibly high fines and going into bankruptcy, data breach events can break any business. But that’s only the financial aspect.
Every year, we witness greater and higher damage that cybercrime can cause – from poisoning the water supplies to threatening the national security of a whole country.  

Recently, Ukraine’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) revealed statistics showing the country had been subjected to over 60 different cyberattacks. It said 11 had targeted government and local authorities, with 8 hitting military and law enforcement. Just 4 had hit telecoms and other tech companies. 

The UK government confirmed that the National Cyber Security Center was investigating the allegations, which claim that more than 600 websites, including Ukraine’s defense ministry, were subjected to thousands of hacking attempts coordinated by the Chinese government. 

Most recent cyber-attacks on Ukraine 

Here are some of the most impactful cyber-attacks targeting Ukraine in the last few months. These consistent attacks against the Ukrainian government prove in real-time the importance of cyber security in times of cyber war.  

3 Ways to keep your data safe in times of cyber-war

1. Educate your employees
It’s no secret that we’re in the midst of a cyber war. With hackers and foreign governments constantly trying to break into our networks and steal our data, it’s more important than ever to make sure our data is kept safe and processed by professionals that realize the importance of being aware of how to protect data. One of the best ways to protect sensitive data is to educate our employees. They need to know how to spot a phishing email, how to create strong passwords, and how to keep their devices safe. If we can educate our employees on how to keep our data safe, we’ll be one step ahead in the cyber war.

2. Install security software
As we become increasingly reliant on technology, it’s important to make sure our data is safe from cyberattacks. One way to do this is to install security software on our devices. This software can help protect us from viruses, malware, and other online threats. There are many different security programs available, so it’s important to do some research to find one that’s right for you. Once you’ve installed the software, be sure to keep it up to date so it can continue to protect you from the latest threats. In addition to using security software, there are other steps you can take to keep your data safe. For example, you should use strong passwords and avoid clicking on links or attachments from unknown sources. 

3. Be aware of social engineering
In the age of digital warfare, it’s more important than ever to keep our data safe. And one of the best ways to do that is to be aware of social engineering. Social engineering is a type of attack in which attackers use psychological manipulation to trick people into revealing sensitive information or performing actions that could jeopardize security. Some common examples of social engineering attacks include phishing emails, fake websites, and pretexting (when an attacker pretends to be someone else in order to gain access to information or resources). So how can you protect yourself from social engineering attacks? Here are a few tips: 1. Be suspicious of unsolicited emails, even if they appear to be from a trusted.  

How to create a response plan during cyber war? 

When it comes to data security, it’s important to have a plan in place in case of a cyber-attack. Incident response has always been an area of focus for network security and good reason. The quicker you can deploy effective measures to respond to a crisis, the more likely you are to avoid or at least mitigate the impact of social media backlash.   

Response plan steps:
1. Keep your software up to date. Install security patches as soon as they’re released to help protect your system from vulnerabilities.
2. Use strong passwords and two-factor authentication. This will help keep your accounts safe even if your passwords are compromised.
3. Back up your data. This way you’ll always have a copy in case of an attack.
4. Be aware of phishing scams. Don’t click on links or open attachments from unknown sources.
5. Educate yourselves

An Incident Response Plan in cybersecurity is a plan that gives the security analysts instructions on how to respond to security incidents with a high impact on the organization (such as a data breach/leaks, ransomware attacks, sensitive data loss, etc). 

According to The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), there are four phases to the most effective incident response plans:  

• preparation;  
• detection and analysis;  
• containment, eradication, and recovery;  
• post-incident activity. 

As we mentioned, there are certain best practices to protect your data from attacks, but no security measures can guarantee you 100% that you will never become a victim of a cyber-attack. That’s why having a cybersecurity incident response plan is as important as protecting your data. 

Preparation
First, you need to define who will be involved in the incident response actions, and what is their role there, is so that when the security incident happens, they can respond as quickly as possible. 

All information about the incident response should be kept in one place and available to everyone. Those responsible for the actions taken in the event of an incident should be aware of their duties.  

Detection and analysis
Your security team should be able to detect and analyze when a security incident happens. Ideally, your security team should be able to detect security threats and anomalies in real-time.   You can leverage tools like SIEM software, SOAR, log collection software, and others, to automate the process and reduce the times to detect the issues and the affected systems. Security software such as SIEM usually has the capabilities to investigate different kinds of security threats involving both insider and outsider attacks.  

During the detection phase, here are some of the most important questions to answer in order to be able to respond to the threat: 

• When did the event happen? 

• How was it discovered? 
• Who discovered it? 
• What areas have been impacted? 
• What is the scope of the compromise? 
• Does it affect operations? 

• Has the source (point of entry) of the event been discovered? 

Containment, eradication, and recovery
It is very important to contain the breach, so it doesn’t spread and cause further damage to your business. To isolate the security threat, it is recommended to disconnect affected devices from the Internet, if possible. You should have prepared a short-term and a long-term containment strategy. It’s also recommended to have a redundant system backup to help restore business operations.   

You should also include in the recovery steps the following actions 

• During the containment phase, here are some of the most important questions to address: 

  • What has been done to contain the breach in the short term? 
  • What has been done to contain the breach in the long term? 
  • Has any malware been detected, and has it been properly quarantined from the rest of the environment? 
  • Are there any backups in place? 
  • Does your remote access require multi-factor authentication? 
  • Have all access credentials policies been revised, hardened and changed? 
  • Have you applied all recent security patches and updates? 

Once you’ve contained the issue, you need to find and eliminate the root cause of the breach. This means all malware should be securely removed, systems should again be hardened and patched, and updates should be applied. 

 Questions to address 

• Have artifacts/malware from the attacker been securely removed? 
• Has the system been hardened, patched, and updates applied? 
• Can the system be re-imaged? 

During the recovery process, you need to ensure maximum restoring and returning of affected systems and devices back into your business environment. It’s important to get your systems and business operations up and running again without the fear of another breach. 

Post-incident activities
Once you finalize the process of incident response, it’s good to have a meeting with the incident response team to discuss what are the lessons learned, and what else can be improved to prevent future security threats. Documenting and analyzing the attacks, and taking the lessons learned from cyber-attacks will help strengthen your systems against future attacks. 

Cyber-attacks are becoming more and more common, and companies need to be aware of the risks and take steps to protect their data. Follow the LogSentinel response plan and keep your data safe.  For further protection of your organization, book a demo and learn the advantages of SIEM software.

Like this article? Share it with your network!