Private organizations in the West must brace for cyber attacks

It has long been predicted that the next major military conflict will be fought as much in cyberspace as in the physical world.  Indeed, the invasion of Ukraine this morning was preceded by a growing number of cyber attacks on Ukrainian public and private sector organizations.

As the Governments of the US, UK and other countries announce new or strengthened sanctions against Russian financial interests and assets abroad, cybersecurity experts from SHI and its subsidiary, Stratascale*, are warning that private organizations in western countries must join their public sector counterparts in being prepared for increased attacks as threat actors potentially seek to cause disruption, economic damage, and even physical harm to countries imposing sanctions.

In the light of this increased threat level, organizations of all kinds need to review their security posture as a matter of urgency. As Stratascale’s Lead Research Analyst, Michael O’Neil, says:

“External threats require a combination of tactics. As a minimum, you should automate the discovery of potential vulnerabilities to ensure that your organization is continuously on the lookout for direct attacks as well as to threats such as data exposed in the cloud and credentials made available on the dark web.”

The graphic below, created by Stratascale Cybersecurity Technical Advisor, Joseph Karpenko, illustrates the complexity and extent of the activities needed to minimize the risk to your organization. Cybersecurity professionals must work with teams across IT and the business to ensure that relevant data is available to analysts carrying out risk assessments, and governance is in place to minimize the likelihood of employees inadvertently exposing the organization to risk.

For further insights into how you can protect your organization you can read Stratascale’s Horizon Report – Automating Defense: Implementing Continuous Discovery and Validation or sign up to SHI’s Identity and Access Management and Cloud Security Workshops.

SHI offers customers free Executive Briefings on how to improve Cloud Security & Compliance as well as Identity & Access Management.

Learn more about how SHI can help improve your cybersecurity posture.

* Stratascale is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SHI providing a consultancy-first approach to helping organizations rapidly adapt in response to business changes and challenges through technology innovation.