Advisory Type: IT Security
Severity: Critical
Summary: PDS is providing the following communication to build awareness of increased worldwide cybersecurity risk.
On March 21, 2022 President Biden issued Statement by President Biden on our Nation’s Cybersecurity, a call to action for public and private companies to review their cybersecurity posture and improve their recovery and resilience capabilities.
President Biden’s statement “my Administration is reiterating those warnings based on evolving intelligence that the Russian Government is exploring options for potential cyberattacks” should increase the priority and urgency for IT Managers and Executive Teams.
The White House also issued FACT SHEET: Act Now to Protect Against Potential Cyberattacks with President Biden’s statement outlining the steps companies should take (excerpt here):
- Educate your employees to common tactics that attackers will use over email or through websites, and encourage them to report if their computers or phones have shown unusual behavior, such as unusual crashes or operating very slowly;
- Mandate the use of multi-factor authentication on your systems to make it harder for attackers to get onto your system;
- Deploy modern security tools on your computers and devices to continuously look for and mitigate threats;
- Check with your cybersecurity professionals to make sure that your systems are patched and protected against all known vulnerabilities, and change passwords across your networks so that previously stolen credentials are useless to malicious actors;
- Back up your data and ensure you have offline backups beyond the reach of malicious actors.
In May 2021 President Biden issued Executive Order 14028, Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity, charging US agencies with mandates to improve their cybersecurity posture. Many of those mandates can also be leveraged by private companies to improve their security and lower their risk.
We advise customers to review the President’s Statement, the accompanying Fact Sheet, and the mandate, materials, and procedures created because of Executive Order 14028. PDS and Converge Security Architects are available to meet with customers to review, advise, and implement measures to protect our data and infrastructures.
