Ukraine was the subject of a series of cyberattacks earlier this month, which were allegedly part of a bigger Russian hybrid warfare strategy. While geopolitical concerns are outside the subject of this blog article, these assaults should serve as a wake-up call for us all to consider the impact state-sponsored cyber operations may have on businesses and their information security plans, as well as the steps that can be taken in response.

What Are the Consequences of State-Sponsored Cyberattacks?

The purpose of these cyberattacks is usually to impair essential systems that a country’s military and population rely on, usually before a conventional battle. They divert political leaders’ attention, create civil unrest, and lower military morale, all to weaken a foe before any conventional tactics are utilized. Such campaigns are frequently hidden, can be launched at “quiet” moments, and can last for a long time.

Unfortunately, your IT infrastructure may be the battleground for these cyber-attacks. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has identified 16 critical sectors “whose assets, systems, and networks, whether physical or virtual, are considered quite important to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a damaging effect on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination thereof.”

Add surveillance to the mix. Foreign intelligence agencies have long targeted public and private sector enterprises, but the use of malware to obtain trade secrets like blueprints and source code is relatively new. This can hurt a company’s capacity to compete in the market, as well as cause reputational harm, legal fees, and other expenses.

Actions you can take Today

State-sponsored cyberattacks are frequently driven by advanced persistent threat (APT) organizations that undertake highly focused, sophisticated and well-funded campaigns. Even yet, spear phishing, brute force access (using widely used and stolen credentials), and command-and-control connections via a domestic proxy are popular strategies employed by APTs. In a January 11 advisory, CISA identified essential mitigating techniques against typical attack strategies. However, in addition to enforcing suitable tools and procedures, InfoSec leaders play an important role. Let’s take a look at three different things they can accomplish.

• To refocus cybersecurity professionals, create efficiency and automation: Because there is more cybersecurity work than cybersecurity personnel, increasing efficiency and adding automation to minimize workloads is crucial. Focus on decreasing vendor and tool sprawl while you investigate advanced cybersecurity solutions including MFA, zero trust access, app security for hybrid multi-cloud architectures, and ML-based anomaly detection. You can redirect highly skilled information security workers to more intensive tasks like threat hunting and penetration testing, while upskilling workers from other parts of IT for easier administrative tasks like managing cybersecurity infrastructure, by consolidating vendors and choosing those that offer greater automation and interoperability with your existing environments.
• Make 2022 the year of “No Hacking”: A frequent phishing technique is spear hacking. Why? Because it’s effective! Rather than focusing on raising employee knowledge about basic cybersecurity risks, it’s critical to focus on changing employee behavior to recognize and notify IT of phishing efforts. Easy ways that can provide great results include gamification of phishing tests with positive reinforcement and linking workers directly with the InfoSec team (e.g., a Slack channel to report questionable emails).
• Protect your supply chain: Consumer-facing applications and services are becoming an increasingly important element of business income streams since they drive customer engagement and loyalty. The security of applications and the data they contain must be a top priority for businesses. As part of any cybersecurity overhaul, you must protect your organization against supply chain attacks and secure your software supply chain against external and internal threats. Are your software developers using a secure DaaS solution that includes MFA, anti-keylogging, and clipboard access controls to access their development environments (to reduce intellectual property saved on endpoint devices)? Do you have controls for data loss prevention detection? Comprehensive supply chain security can help you preserve your trade secrets and guarantee that your software isn’t used as a threat vector to damage your customers.

These are only three suggestions to get you started. Conflicts between states have now spread into the online realm, affecting everyone. Our opportunity here is to share best practices and threat intelligence, as well as collaborate to ensure that everyone, everywhere is protected and that cyber campaigns are less effective. In the end, this will necessitate changes in government policies, corporate cultures, and how suppliers collaborate. It’s a lofty ambition, but it’s one worth pursuing.

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