The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the FBI warn organisations of ransomware attacks during the holidays.
- The Thanksgiving holiday is the main opportunity for cybercriminals to attack, knowing that offices are closed, and security professionals are away from work.
- CISA and the FBI caution that cybercriminals worldwide are eager to disrupt businesses' strong networks and systems and critical infrastructure.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the FBI warn organisations of ransomware attacks during the holidays.
The two federal agencies' warning was issued in the form of a joint advisory published Monday, "based on observations on the timing of high impact ransomware attacks that have occurred previously rather than a reaction to specific threat reporting."
Threat actors have frequently taken advantage of a decline in willingness to respond to cybersecurity attacks during holidays and weekends to attempt breaches of critical networks and systems belonging to private and public sector organisations.
Below is the list of best practices recommended by the agencies to increase the level of security of their infrastructure:
- Identify IT, security employees for weekends and holidays who would be ready to surge during these times in an incident or ransomware attack.
- Implement multi-factor authentication for remote access and administrative accounts.
- Authorisation of strong passwords and ensuring they are not reused across multiple accounts.
- If you employ remote desktop protocol (RDP) or other potentially risky services, ensure it is secure and monitored.
- Remind employees not to click on suspicious links, and conduct exercises to raise awareness.
“Finally—to reduce the risk of a severe business/functional degradation should your organisation fall victim to a ransomware attack—review and, if needed, update your incident response and communication plans, ” reads the alert.
The alert added that these plans should list actions to take—and contacts to reach out to—should a ransomware incident impact your organisation.
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