CISA Encourages “Shields Up” Cyber-Defense

On February 26, 2022, the United States Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (“CISA”) issued an alert warning organizations of the potential impacts that the events in Ukraine may have on the cyber security of the United States and the risks that threat poses to the continued operations of United States critical infrastructure organizations.

The alert is consistent with a joint Cybersecurity Advisory issued by CISA, the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), and the National Security Agency ("NSA") on January 11, 2022, which alerted organizations in the cybersecurity industry of the threat of Russian cyber-hacking. In that alert, the agencies outlined a history of Russian state-sponsored cyber attacks that should serve as a basis for an organization’s threat assessment as most “advanced persistent threat ("APT") actors have used common but effective tactics— including, spearphishing, brute force, and exploiting known vulnerabilities against accounts and networks with weak security.” Despite the historic use of those common tactics, the agencies reminded organizations that there is a plethora of cyber-invasive maneuvers that threat actors could employ.

In light of the emerging threats, CISA encourages all organizations to put their “shields up” to best defend against potential cyber threats by increasing their organizations' monitoring; evaluating their capability to plan, prepare, detect, and respond to a cyber incident; and ensuring diligence in the reporting of any cyber incidents. Reporting such incidents in a timely manner permit the CISA to render assistance to the organization under duress and to warn other organizations of the incident to prevent further spread of the threat.  

In both alerts, CISA provided a list of best practices and planning strategies for organizations. Organizations would be best served by reviewing acting to implement these recommendations and practices.