President Biden issued a statement on March 21st urging organizations to harden their defenses immediately in response to the unprecedented sanctions imposed on Russia and their threat to conduct malicious cyber activity against the United States.
The statement includes a fact sheet that provides the steps to execute "with urgency" to better protect against potential cyber attacks. Also referenced are resources from the Shields Up initiative introduced by the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) in late February.
Unpacking The Presidential Statement
Watch the video below as Jon Roberts, Cyber Security Manager, and I review the Presidential Statement, Fact Sheet and Shields Up initiative from CISA. In our discussion, we review the key steps laid out for organizations to act on immediately, starting with the mandated use of multi-factor authentication on systems and the deployment of modern tools to continuously look for and mitigate threats.
Resource Links:
- Statement by President Biden on our Nation’s Cybersecurity | The White House
- FACT SHEET: Act Now to Protect Against Potential Cyberattacks | The White House
- Shields Up | CISA
- Shields Up Technical Guidance | CISA
- Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog | CISA
Recommendation:
Organizations should immediately review the Fact Sheet to ensure the measures recommended by the Shields Up initiative have been taken into consideration in your network environment.
Effective cybersecurity practices start with following industry standardized frameworks, such as NIST CSF or CIS. This ensures basic security hygiene is in place and allows for accurate industry benchmarking, ongoing improvements, and awareness of current security threats. Ensure you have the right technology, and properly configured, to protect your organization. If you need advice or an assessment of your environment, then depend on our team of experts with decades of experience in security and incident response.
