Cyberattacks from Russia could be looming. Experts share how to protect yourself
As Russia continues to wage war on Ukraine, the conflict is starting to affect countries around the world.
U.S. citizens have already observed higher gas prices, for one. But a new, sinister threat is emerging: the possibility of a cybersecurity breach that could affect local governments, businesses and even individuals.
In a recent statement, President Joe Biden called the current moment "critical" in working towards enhancing the U.S. cybersecurity defenses, saying the threat of cyberattack from Russia was imminent.
"My Administration is reiterating those warnings based on evolving intelligence that the Russian Government is exploring options for potential cyberattacks," he said in a written statement.
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While this threat may seem far away, foreign conflict can and has impacted local entities in the past. Last year's ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline, which was caused by a compromised password, caused the pipeline to shut down and transportation of fuel across the East Coast to halt.
Ransomware attacks occur when malware gains access to your computer. This often occurs when people download foreign email attachments or malicious links, The ransomware will then gain access to your computer, download, encrypt and lock all the data on it, essentially holding it "ransom."
In the case of events like the Colonial Pipeline, hackers demanded ransom in the form of Bitcoin.
Von Welch, the head of the Center for Cybersecurity at Indiana University, said people should not panic, but they should remain prepared in case of a security breach.
Welch said serious cyberattacks can come from two different places: from "nation states," like the Russian government, or what he called "volunteer" hackers, which are individual people who might target U.S. entities.
"We could very easily in this case have hackers who are upset about our economic sanctions against Russia want to seek revenge on that and turn around and come around and try to attack anything that uses computers here in the United States," he said.
The energy sector
Utilities companies, like Citizens Energy, Duke Energy and AES Indiana, may be targeted, as the U.S. believes Russia might target the energy sector.
"If they want to make a splash, they can shut down energy or water or something along those lines," Welch said.
Both AES Indiana, Indianapolis' electric company, and Duke Energy, which serves nearly all of central and southern Indiana, are taking precautions against possible cyberattacks.
In a statement to IndyStar, AES Indiana reiterated their commitment to "enhancing and improving its cyber and physical security resources and practices."
"Planning for security threats and emergency situations is a critical component of our operations," the statement said. "AES Indiana routinely checks the readiness of our crisis plans through a variety of exercises and drills. We will continue to proactively work with government and industry stakeholders on preparation, prevention and detection, information sharing, and response and recovery of the grids most critical assets.
Angeline Protegere, a spokesperson for Duke Energy, said in a statement to IndyStar the company has an "unwavering" commitment to security and that the company is "closely monitoring" information about the crisis in Ukraine.
Still, if any given company is not extraordinarily well-prepared, Welch said, there will likely be some "degradation of service" because of the importance of computers in the modern world.
"There will be some some inability of that organization to respond," he said.
The biggest concern, said Andy Banning, a partner at the cybersecurity firm Cyberian, is the energy grid and "significant" parts of the infrastructure. Access to these services is something Americans have become accustomed to, and might have difficulty if it were to be compromised.
"As Americans or as Indianapolis citizens ... that's something we take for granted," he said. "But the reality is if they have any type of computer functionality behind it that relies on the services being performed, or delivered or whatever else, they're potentially susceptible."
Cybersecurity advice for companies
Banning said companies should be aware of threats posed to their security and prepare for the possibility of ransomware attack. The first thing: Implementing multi-factor authentication through programs such as Okta or Duo and a complex password policy, which requires capital letters, numbers and special characters.
"The longer the password, the better," Banning said.
Banning also recommended geofencing, also known as restricting IP address access, at the firewall level and implementing Next Generation antivirus software.
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It's also important, Banning said, to implement strong spam filters and validate their backups. Implementing an air gap backup, or backing up data to somewhere that is not within the company's main system, can help protect against the information hostage of ransomware attacks.
"The idea behind it is that it's not online and accessible all the time," Banning said.
In addition to implementing precautions like the ones he recommended, Banning said cybersecurity insurance can help businesses, especially small ones, stay afloat in the event of a security breach.
However, despite the fact that there are many precautions companies can take, "it's difficult to plug all the holes," Banning said.
"One thing that is for certain with cybersecurity is that there is no such thing as 100% protection," Banning said.
Cybersecurity advice for individuals
Some of the advice for citizens is the same as for businesses: a strong password, as well as multi-factor authentication, is a good policy to protect against unwanted hackers. And not all passwords are created equal, Welch said.
"I always encourage people to think about the risks involved because not all passwords are the same and figure out the ones that really are the critical ones to you," Welch said.
Keeping your passwords on a slip of paper in your wallet? That's about as secure as you can get.
Contact IndyStar trending reporter Claire Rafford at crafford@gannett.com or on Twitter @clairerafford.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: In Russia-Ukraine conflict, cybersecurity experts warn of cyberattacks
