All businesses in the United States must prepare for the possible cyber retaliation from Iran. Whether we know it or not, we all have a role to play in protecting our Countries critical infrastructure.
Based on recent events in the news, citizens and businesses in the U.S. most likely will be targeted in cyber-attacks by terrorist groups, Nation States or organized crime groups.
These groups use cybercrime to advance their goals and victimize U.S. citizens and attack our critical infrastructure. Everyone in the U.S. now has a role to play to protect against cybercrime and protect our critical infrastructure.
Ask Yourself These Questions:
- Are you and your organization prepared for a cyber-attack from Iran?
- What are you and your organization doing to protect our critical infrastructure?
- We all are familiar with the concept “see something – say something” but what are you doing to protect and educate your organization and those you care about, so they don’t fall victim to these crimes?
Protect your business from cybercrime. Here are six steps to institute now:
- Employee phishing email training and reminders – immediately institute or update employee security awareness training. Remind employees to slow down when handling email and to stop automatically clicking on every email link and attachment they get.
- Backup all computers and update operating systems and software regularly. Ensure that system backup procedures are tested, and full backups will be functional if needed.
- Require strong passwords and institute two-factor authentication on all publicly accessible systems. Ensure that employees update and develop strong passwords and protect them. Review all system and server passwords and ensure that default passwords are not in place.
- Social Media and Website Security – Sharing too much information on your public-facing website and social media increases the risk you will be victimized.
- Secure your devices – Don’t leave your work systems, laptops, phones or tablets unsecured. The physical security of all devices should be reviewed and fortified. Remind employees to focus on the physical security of all devices.
- Internet of things and device management – Understand how all of your IoT devices connect to the Internet and what information you are sharing. Check the passwords, security settings, and update firmware on all IoT devices.
We all have a role in protecting our businesses against an attack from Iran and other nation-states, so we need to be prepared now. We are now all interconnected via the Internet and we rely on this data for everything we do daily. All businesses regardless of size are potential targets.
We all need to work together and protect the safety and security of our Country.
Do you need help with security awareness training for your employees, including topics on protecting your business from cybercrime?
CFISA’s Security Awareness Training courses are designed to educate employees on proper cyber and data security behavior to best protect your organization from a catastrophic data breach.