Biden Warns of Russia Cyberattack on US Businesses & Economy

The United States Government has warned privately-held American firms about the growing threat of cyberattacks from Russian hackers.

President Biden warned on Monday that Russia is considering launching cyberattacks on the US businesses in revenge for the economic sanctions placed on Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine.

The President advised private sector organizations in the United States to tighten their cybersecurity against a potential Russian breach in a statement released days before he travels to Brussels for a NATO summit.

“It’s part of Russia’s playbook,” President Biden said in the statement. “Today, my administration is renewing those concerns, based on increasing data indicating the Russian government is considering hacking possibilities.”

I’ve previously warned about the potential that Russia could conduct malicious cyber activity against the U.S. Today, I’m reiterating those warnings based on evolving intelligence that the Russian Government is exploring options for potential cyberattacks. https://t.co/wO2jJgg5SJ

— President Biden (@POTUS) March 21, 2022

According to Anne Neuberger, the deputy national security advisor for cyber and new technology, the administration has no evidence of a specific, significant potential cyberattack against the United States but rather “preparatory activities” targeting critical infrastructure.

Key Findings:

• The US government has been more cautious about Russian hackers’ activities, even as it accuses Moscow of meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
• The private warnings respond to mounting concerns from companies such as Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) that hackers are targeting in Russia and other countries.
• The private, non-public warnings, first reported by Bloomberg, also signal the growing concern among US officials, who have been reluctant to publicly discuss alleged Russian hacking activities.
• The private warnings also come as President Joe Biden’s administration reviews options to retaliate against Russia for its alleged hacking activities.

As the crisis in Ukraine rages, the US has previously warned that Russia may attempt to attack US corporations. According to Ms. Neuberger, the Biden administration’s warning on Monday was an attempt to raise awareness of Russia’s ability to launch a digital attack on American infrastructure.

Ms. Neuberger stated that the administration had lately noticed “preparatory behavior” for future hacking of American infrastructure and had shared that knowledge with businesses in a secret briefing last week. Scanning websites for flaws is one example of this type of action. Ms. Neuberger stated unequivocally that Russian hacking of essential infrastructures, such as oil and energy firms and hospital systems, continues to be a serious concern.

“There’s so much more we need to do to the confidence that we’ve shut our digital doors, especially for Americans’ important services,” Ms. Neuberger said, noting that the private sector manages most of America’s critical infrastructure. “Those owners and operators have the power and obligation to harden the systems and networks we all rely on.”

Last week, the White House briefed more than 100 US corporations on the best ways to guard against a cyberattack. On Monday, the Trump administration issued a directive to businesses to “quickly reinforce your cyber defenses,” recommending actions such as enabling multifactor authentication, ensuring data backups offline, and teaching personnel on hacking techniques.

In the statement, Mr. Biden added, “You have the authority, the capacity, and the obligation to increase the cybersecurity and resilience of the key services and technology Americans rely on.”

Protected Harbor’s Take On The Issue

As one of the top cybersecurity firms in the US, Protected Harbor has been following the matter for a long time. Last week Richard Luna, CEO of Protected Harbor, had a session with SCMagazine about how U.S. businesses can protect themselves from Russian cybersecurity attacks.

He gave the following tips on how to protect from Russian cyber-attacks.

• A solid and robust firewall is a must that can be backed up by effective anti-virus software running on all devices in your network.
• Install network segmentation or ‘air gapping,’ which prevents data transfer between networks without proper authorization. This process also limits potential damage if one part of your system gets hacked as it will not spread across the whole company’s systems afterward, potentially destroying them all at once.
• Continuous monitoring for the unusual activity should be done through logging tools like Palo Alto Network’s next-generation firewalls (NGFW). The logs should then be analysed daily, so any anomalies are immediately noticed.
• Enable MFA for all websites, accounts, systems, and network logins, especially emails. A typical method is that an application is loaded on the users’ mobile device generating a series of random codes during the login process. The user is requested to enter the code along with the password.
• Patch for all vulnerabilities and software, even the old ones. Do not take shortcuts because if you only patch against known attacks, you may get caught due to an unknown vulnerability. Patch your systems, networks, websites, mobile applications, and everything on the Internet.

US Businesses need to quickly identify vulnerabilities, exposure, and misconfigurations that can give opportunities to hackers for gaining a foothold in their IT infrastructure and then implement relevant patches. Russian operators are well known for exploiting edge systems.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has put an alert recently that lists 13 known vulnerabilities used by Russian state-sponsored criminals to compromise networks. Network cybersecurity and network protection are essential for a company’s safety, as criminals detect the loopholes to infiltrate the system.

The recent attacks on government sites were carried out using trivial tools. Multiple users accessed the website at the same time causing a crash. Western governments and agencies are also at risk of cyberwar, as we have discussed in this article. Businesses need to take proactive measures to strengthen their security.

Protected Harbor can help organizations protect themselves and their IT operations from known and unknown attacks, including all forms of malware, ransomware, viruses, and phishing. We help businesses back up their data and prevent ransomware attacks or other security issues resulting in data loss. Learn more about Protected Harbor and reach out for a free IT Audit to see how we can help against the Russian Cyber Invasion.

What is Cybersecurity Mesh?

Have you come across the term “cybersecurity mesh”? Some consider it one of the most important trends in cloud security and other cyber concerns today.

One of the newest cybersecurity buzzwords is cybersecurity mesh, one of Gartner’s top strategic technology trends for 2022 and beyond. Cybersecurity mesh, as a concept, is a new approach to a security architecture that allows scattered companies to deploy and expand protection where it’s most needed, allowing for higher scalability, flexibility, and reliable cybersecurity control. The growing number of cybersecurity threats inspires new security solutions, such as cybersecurity mesh, which is one such modern innovation. The security mesh enables fundamental distributed policy enforcement and provides easy-to-use composable tools that may be plugged into the mesh from any location.

• Organizations that use a cybersecurity mesh architecture will see a 90 percent reduction in the cost impact of security incidents by 2024, according to Gartner.

Understanding Cybersecurity Mesh

Cybersecurity mesh is a cyber defense approach that uses firewalls and network protection solutions to secure each device with its boundary. Many security approaches guarantee a whole IT environment with a single perimeter, while a cybersecurity mesh takes a more holistic approach.

“Location independence” and “Anywhere operations” will be a crucial trend in the aftermath of the Covid-19 epidemic. This trend will continue as more and more organizations realize that remote working is more viable and cost-effective. Because firms’ assets are outside the traditional security perimeter, their security strategies must develop to meet modern requirements. The notion of cybersecurity mesh is based on a distributed approach to network and infrastructure security that allows the security perimeter to be defined around the identities of people and machines on the web. This security design creates smaller and more individual circumferences around each access point.

Companies can use cybersecurity mesh to ensure that each access point’s security is handled correctly from a single point of authority, allowing for centralized security rules and dispersed enforcement. Such a strategy is ideal for businesses that operate from “anywhere.” This also means that cybersecurity mesh is a component of a Zero Trust security strategy. With tight identity verification and authorization, humans and machines may safely access devices, services, data, and applications anywhere.

What Are The Benefits of Cybersecurity Mesh

It is recommended that organizations handle decentralized identity, access management, IAM professional services, and identity proofing when addressing their most critical IT security and risk priorities. The following are some of the ways that cybersecurity mesh can be beneficial:

Cybersecurity mesh will support over 50 percent of IAM requests: Traditional security strategies are complicated because most digital assets, identities, and devices are outside the company today. Gartner expects that cybersecurity mesh will handle the bulk of IAM requests and provide a more precise, mobile, and adaptable unified access management paradigm for IAM demands. Compared to traditional security perimeter protection, the mesh architecture provides organizations with a more integrated, scalable, flexible, and dependable solution to digital asset access points and control.

Delivering IAM services will make managed security service providers (MSSPs) more prominent: MSSP organizations can provide businesses with the resources and skillsets to plan, develop, purchase, and deploy comprehensive IAM solutions. By 2023, MSSPs that focus on delivering best-of-breed solutions with an integrated strategy will drive 40% of IAM application convergence; this process will move the emphasis from product suppliers to service partners.

The workforce identity life cycle will include tools for identity verification: Because of the significant growth in distant interactions, which makes it harder to distinguish between attackers and legitimate users, more robust enrollment and recovery methods are urgently needed. According to Gartner, 30 percent of big companies will use new identity-proofing systems by 2024 to address typical flaws in worker identification life cycle processes.

Standards for decentralized identity emerge: Privacy, assurance, and pseudonymity are hampered by centralized ways to maintain identification data. According to the mesh model’s decentralized approach, blockchain technology protects anonymity and allows individuals to confirm information requests by providing the requestor with the least required information. Gartner estimates that by 2024, the market will have a genuinely global, portable, decentralized identity standard to address business, personal, social, societal, and identity-invisible use cases.

Demographic bias will be minimized in identity proofing: Document-centric approaches to identity proofing have piqued the interest of many businesses. The rise of remote work in 2020 highlighted how bias based on race, gender, and other traits could manifest themselves in online use cases. As a result, by 2022, 95% of businesses will demand that identity-proofing companies demonstrate that they minimize demographic bias.

How to Implement Cybersecurity Mesh

The future of cybersecurity mesh appears to be promising. For example, Gartner estimated in October 2021 that this design would help minimize the cost impact of security events by 90% on average over the next five years. By 2025, Gartner expects it to serve more than half of all identification and access requests.

Mesh can therefore make a difference. How can you make the most of it? One method is to develop a roadmap for integrating cloud security and other technologies. This single, integrated solution can maintain zero trust and other critical defensive measures. It will be easier to create and enforce policies if this is done. It will also be accessible for security personnel to keep track of their assets.
Furthermore, IT teams can enhance this work by ensuring that basic protections are in place. Besides multi-factor authentication, Protected Harbor recommended data loss prevention, identity administration and management, SIEM, and more.

Conclusion

In the following years, the concept of cybersecurity mesh will be a significant trend, and it will provide some critical security benefits that standard cybersecurity techniques do not. As more businesses begin to digitize their assets and migrate to cloud computing environments, they recognize the need to protect sensitive data. Beyond the existing physical limits, the cybersecurity mesh will provide better, more flexible, and scalable protection to secure their digital transformation investments.

Protect your critical data assets, talk to Protected Harbor’s cybersecurity specialists about the notion of cybersecurity mesh and other advanced security solutions like remote monitoring, geoblocking, protected data centers, and much more.

What is the most common cause of healthcare data breaches?

Patient’s medical records are a goldmine for malicious hackers—if they can get their hands on them. According to Cisco Internet Security Threat Report, healthcare is currently the most targeted industry by cybercriminals.

Health data breaches have been on the headlines for a while now. From the crippling breach of Anthem to the compromising of 10 million patient records at UCLA Health — nothing is sacred when it comes to cyberattacks these days. While the impact of security incidents might differ depending on their magnitude, it seems that poorly protected IT systems and hacking/IT incidents are often the biggest culprits in causing privacy and financial setbacks.

Healthcare data breaches are on the rise. Although many are concerned with hacking, several factors could potentially cause a significant healthcare data breach.

Common causes of healthcare data breaches!

Data breaches are becoming more and more common. With the rise of hacking, phishing, malware attacks, and new security regulations, all healthcare organizations need to stay proactive in protecting their data.

The most common cause of data breaches for healthcare organizations is malicious or cyber-criminal attacks. Data breaches can come from various sources, including hackers stealing protected health information (PHI) from an organization’s database, unencrypted devices, or a weak, stolen password. One of the biggest causes of healthcare data breaches is misconfigured medical devices and office equipment. Medical device security remains a major concern for organizations. Click here to know how do breaches happen and how to prevent them?

Hacking/ IT Incidents accounts for 47% of healthcare data breaches making it the #1 cause of healthcare data breaches.
(Source: Electronic Health Reporter)

Patient Data Theft: High risk
Health care industry members are all too familiar with data theft and new methods of exfiltrating information from connected medical devices such as electronic medical records (EMRs) and protected health information (PHIs). IP-enabled medical devices can be easily exploited by experienced hackers because of minimal access controls and known vulnerabilities. A hacker may then take data directly from the medical device, but since medical devices typically contain limited data, he is more likely to go to servers, data centers, or other devices on the network, like the XP workstation that is connected to the electronic medical record. Data breaches in healthcare are defined as theft and loss 32% of the time, compared to only 15% in different industries, 2^nd to Hacking and IT incidents, as per Healthcare drive. With the number of high-profile breaches in healthcare over the past three years, healthcare organizations need tighter controls to mitigate this risk.

What is the cost to your company?

According to IBM’s Cost of Data Breach Report 2021:

• Healthcare organizations spent an average of $161 per breached record in 2021, which is expected to increase in the future.
• On average, it takes 329 days to identify a breach.

The reports show that the cost of data breaches has risen once again, reaching a record high since IBM first published the report 17 years ago. The average cost of a data breach increased by 10% year over year, to $4.24 million per incident and that of healthcare data breaches increased by $2 million to $9.42 million per incident in 2021. The average cost of ransomware attacks was $4.62 million per incident.

How can you avoid a data breach?

• Back up data– Having a proper backup schedule and implementing a secure process to access the off-site data is a preliminary requirement. Confirm that your backup/recovery partner is also HIPAA compliant. Cloud hosting solutions can also be considered for better security.
• Two factor authentication- Multi-factor authentication, also known as 2FA, is a simple concept that can be implemented by companies easily. A key benefit of two-factor verification lies in its very name: it requires two variables to access an account, just as you need two keys to enter a house. The security is therefore twice as strong.
• Safeguard data and devices- Ensure that the tools and policies for security are implemented, securing all the devices accessing your network. Remote monitoring for unauthorized access and unusual activity can opt. Limit and set proper data control and access for the devices.
• Train and educate staff– create a policy for regular security training and practice sessions. Identifying phishing emails, ensuring password complexity, and adhering to anti-malware protocols should be a part of this training. More details

To wrap things up!

Security and compliance are among the top factors healthcare organizations consider when adopting new technologies. Many organizations didn’t or were not able to take the time to strategically align new cloud-based tools and platforms with existing security standards as they transitioned to remote work after the pandemic.
Security and privacy should be a priority when working with technology partners in healthcare. It is a trusted partner’s responsibility to ensure users’ privacy and security, having incorporated a variety of safeguards into their processes, designs, and code, as well as constructing the infrastructure to ensure careful protection of user information. Cisco, Greenway, GE Healthcare, and Protected Harbor are some of the most trusted and reliable healthcare IT solution providers who take pride in their experience of delivering solutions to healthcare and other organizations.

China eyeing U.S. healthcare data

Do you want your PHI (protected health information) or DNA going to an authoritarian regime that has a history of using DNA for repression and surveillance? People’s Republic of China (PRC) has collected large sets of data from U.S. over the years, through every means possible. Access to American healthcare data now poses a serious risk to the privacy, economy, and national security of the United States.

The Covid-19 outbreak is only one part of the healthcare pandemic the country is suffering. The sudden dent in the healthcare infrastructure left the companies and the government reeling. As COVID rates and testing have requirements spiked, China’s BGI (Beijing Genomics Institute) Group, the world’s largest biotech and healthcare analytics company, proposed to help build and run advanced COVID testing labs throughout the U.S.  BGI would provide technical expertise, high throughput sequencers, and even make financial donations for more research.

With America struggling to set up enough testing and research facilities, China’s proposal was hard to ignore in times of such desperation. That is until the U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center raised suspicion and warned against it.
“access to U.S. healthcare and genomic data by China poses serious national security and privacy risk for the United States.” The NCSC said in a statement. Apparently, the Chinese biotech group supplying the COVID-19 testing kits and helping to set up more than 18 research labs also planned on using samples to obtain healthcare data on American citizens, such as DNA and PHI.

China’s access to U.S. healthcare data

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has been looking to obtain America’s ethnically diverse health data for years. According to National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC), they have been able to gain access to US healthcare data, including genomic data, through a variety of channels, both legal and illegal, including theft of research and cyberattacks.”

#DYK: China has for years accessed U.S. genomic data through legal and illegal means. China’s DNA collection at home has helped it carry out human rights abuses. It’s collection of such data from America poses equally serious risks. See: https://t.co/zR5l1KuZZ8 pic.twitter.com/XCYj3CE0FZ

— NCSC (@NCSCgov) February 19, 2021

According to a report by CFR (Council of Foreign Relations), China already has more data on the genetic sequencing of the US population than the United States has on its own population.
Chinese companies invested in U.S. firms that handle sensitive personal and healthcare data, providing them with easy access to this US Electronic Health Records (EHR). For example, BGI purchased U.S. genomic sequencing company Complete Genomics in 2013, and China’s Wuxi Pharma acquired NextCODE Health in the U.S. and later formed Wuxi NextCODE Genomics.

Recent healthcare data breaches from hackers in China within the PRC government include the theft of personal data and EMRs. Anthem Inc. in 2015 lost healthcare data on roughly 78 million people; information including health identification numbers, names, Social Security numbers, employment, and income information. Two individuals based in China were indicted by the U.S. Justice Department for hacking Anthem and three other U.S. companies, in 2019.

The China Challenge

Bill Evania, a veteran of both the CIA and the FBI, also suspected that offer of help from BGI was a modern-day trojan horse. Using the labs as a way to establish a foothold in the U.S. healthcare market, much like previous corporate acquisitions, and then mining the health data even US Government agencies can’t access. Further, all Chinese companies are obligated to share data collected with the PRC government under the PRC’s national security laws. So any Chinese healthcare company on U.S. soil poses a national security risk.

We have seen the consequences in the past. The U.S. Department of Commerce sanctioned two subsidiaries of China’s BGI in July 2020 over the PRC government’s use of genetic techniques to repress Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang.

But how has this happened? China has taken the advantage of the loose safety and security infrastructure protecting our PHI and EMR. Policies need to be revamped concerning the sharing and control of these data at the national and international levels.

China’s BGI has collaborated with many American healthcare and research entities over the past decade, providing them with genomic sequencing services, as well as gaining access to health records and genetic information of U.S. citizens. But to date there are not enough regulations and policies to stop internal employees to share such information with other company employees, who just happen to also work for the Chinese government.

Conclusion and Diagnosis

“We have a short term approach to data management, solve the problem today, but that often leads to larger problems down the road.”                                – Richard Luna, CEO, Protected Harbor

To address the ever-growing surveillance capabilities of China and other authoritarian states, the U.S. and other nations should take bold action instead of timid, gentle steps. To begin with, the government needs to strengthen healthcare privacy legislation and regulation. Enhanced privacy laws would provide protections against only for foreign states, but also from domestic governments and private parties wishing access to protected healthcare data.

National healthcare IT organizations should also increase user safety and privacy, encryption, reporting, auditing, to enhance data transfer and internet openness. Since electronic health records (EHR) are now the norm, every healthcare organization must be sensitive to the intersection of health information, security, and must adhere to HIPAA compliances. HIPAA Security Rule involves many physical safeguards, technological measures, and organizational standards. It applies to technology in three key ways: technologies that store PHI must log out after a certain time to prevent unauthorized access, all users must be assigned unique logins that can be audited, and, PHI must be encrypted.

No healthcare IT department is alone in the battle to protect against illegal or legal healthcare data breaches. Partnering with reliable and secured healthcare IT solution expert such as Protected Harbor can help solve the issues at a grassroots level. With two organizations working together, the healthcare data industry can lay multiple pillars of healthcare data infrastructure to strengthen national security. We cannot accept our information as safe as is, given the scope of data collection on devices and China’s known involvement in this area. There are no checks and balances in the sharing of data. For example, a company allows the vendors access to the billing data to generate reports. But the vendor has access to ALL of the data, not just what’s needed to generate reporting. The IT department and cybersecurity U.S. needs to be heavily vested in the security and safety of data.

The U.S. has spent the last decade creating interoperable healthcare systems and China is now using legitimate interconnected companies to capture data. As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, different technologies and data have been linked at a faster rate than security measures applied to the data. Millions of Americans have lost their DNA and personal information, allowing China to leverage our health information to develop artificial intelligence and precision medicine, putting America’s $100 billion biotechnology industry at a disadvantage. We need to cut the oxygen and this starts from the ground level moving up the ladder to the national level.

The Emerging Way Around 2FA

With individuals and companies understanding that security and phishing risks are rising, the implementation of 2FA (2 Factor Authentication) has become increasingly more prevalent. 2FA allows users to add a level of security by adding another “factor” besides their usernames and passwords that they must enter correctly to gain access to their account. Typically, 2FA is enabled as a security feature on more high-risk accounts such as finance applications or email, but as the threat increases, it’s becoming utilized on more sites and apps.

As technology progresses, the social engineering capability does as well. Instead of a standard phishing attack where you receive an email or text message on a phone number with a dummy link, click the dummy link, then enter your (very real) banking information. The hacker then takes that information, tries it on the real banking site, and gains access to your bank account. You can read more about how phishing works here.

As 2 Factor Authentication becomes more prominent, the depth of these phishing-style attacks also increases. Attacks are now being sent through text messages making it more difficult to sense their legitimacy. See a Chase website scam example below:

The way these attacks are conducted is as follows:

Step 1: You’ll receive a text message like the one above from a “trusted” institution like Chase or Bank of America, explaining some reason why you need to access your online banking account or credit card.

Step 2: You click the link leading you to a dummy online banking page that looks identical to a Chase or Bank of America Website.

Step 3: The website asks you to “reset” your password asking you to enter your old username and passwords and then your new one.

Step 4: Within 15-30 seconds, that information is plugged into the actual Chase of BOA website, but you have 2FA enabled.

Step 5: You get a real text from the financial institution asking you to input a code on their site (the one the hackers are currently logging into); however, the dummy site also asks for the code.

Step 6: You input the 2 Factor Authentication code into the dummy site, and hackers now have your passwords and 2FA code and have gained full access to your account.

Once a hacker gains access via 2FA, it’s pretty much over for any information behind that wall, they can use the same technology that got them in there to keep you out. Typically, by the time you’re able to allow the company to grant you access to the page, they’ve already done what they needed to do.

The Most Common 2FA Bypass Attacks

Two-factor authentication (2FA) stands as a crucial defense against unauthorized access, but it’s not impervious to attacks. Let’s delve into some of the most common methods used to bypass 2FA security:

1. Phishing Attacks: Despite 2FA, phishing remains a prevalent threat. Attackers trick users into providing both their credentials and the 2FA code, granting them access.

2. Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) Attacks: In an MITM attack, the attacker intercepts communication between the user and the authentication system, capturing the 2FA code in transit.

3. SIM Swapping: Attackers convince the victim’s mobile carrier to transfer their phone number to a new SIM card under the attacker’s control. This enables them to intercept the 2FA code sent via SMS.

4. Credential Stuffing: Attackers use previously breached username-password pairs to gain access to accounts. If users have reused passwords across multiple accounts, even 2FA may not stop unauthorized access.

5. Social Engineering: Attackers manipulate individuals into revealing sensitive information, including 2FA codes, through deception or coercion.

Understanding these common 2FA bypass techniques is crucial for implementing effective security measures and mitigating the risks associated with them. Vigilance, education, and the adoption of additional security layers beyond 2FA are essential to bolstering the overall security posture.

How to spot a potential 2FA phishing attempt?

There are key factors when it comes to spotting a fraudulent message, much like emails or text messages. If a text contains the following: Misspellings, links that don’t seem consistent with the brand that’s reaching out, broken English, and sometimes improper wording.

These are effective because you could easily miss the aforementioned criteria if you’re not paying close attention. A text message differs from an email because no name, signature, font options, colors, etc., can tell you different things about an email. With text messaging, you have a single font and color, so all they have to do is get the wording and verbiage correct.

These attacks are so widespread that throughout the summer of 2021, the number of phishing URLs designed to impersonate Chase’s website jumped by 300%, says security firm Cyren. That speaks to not only the shift in types of phishing but the effectiveness overall.

How you can protect your account?

Protect your account using 2FA (Two-Factor Authentication) by adding an extra layer of security. After entering your password, you must verify your identity with a second factor, like an OTP Authentication sent to your phone or email. Various 2FA authentication methods include authenticator apps, biometric scans, or hardware tokens. What is Passkey, it’s a secure and unique password, that can also enhance your protection. By implementing 2FA, you significantly reduce the risk of unauthorized access to your accounts.

Never Share your Authentication Code

In the realm of two-factor authentication (2FA), safeguarding your authentication code is paramount. Whether you receive an email one-time passcode or use a TOTP (Time-based One-Time Password) app, these codes are your personal keys to secure access. TOTP, or Time-based One-Time Password, is a dynamic code generated by an authentication app that changes every 30 seconds. Unlike static passwords, TOTPs are ephemeral, providing a higher level of security. The benefits of 2FA are numerous: it enhances security by requiring a second form of authentication, such as a TOTP, which significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized access; it protects against phishing, as even if a hacker obtains your password, they cannot access your account without the second factor, typically a code sent via email or generated by an app; and it increases trust among users and customers, knowing their data is protected by an additional layer of security. Remember, your authentication code is unique to you. Never share your email one-time passcode or TOTP with anyone. Keeping these codes confidential ensures that your accounts remain secure and protected from potential breaches.

What to do to avoid falling victim?

Overall, these campaigns are meant to deceive; attackers know how to trick us. Attackers consider dozens of factors to make us believe the message we have received is legitimate. Here are a few ways you can help yourself not become a victim:

Links – Never click links or dial phone numbers in emails or text messages. When possible, go to a company’s website or mobile app to ensure you’re accessing the right information and not getting targeted for a phishing attack.

Second Opinion – A second opinion thwarts more attacks than you’d expect. The second set of eyes on a questionable message or email is a proven way to make sure that someone else can see the same potential inaccuracies that you are. Often times others have been approached with similar phishing style messages so it’s good to show a friend or family member if you receive something you think is suspicious.

Slow Down – This is a large part of the attacker’s advantage, we’re all so engaged in our lives that sometimes move too fast and don’t ask simple questions like “why is this website link different?” or “why doesn’t this email address have the proper suffix?”. Attackers prey on our ability to trust bigger, very reputable corporations and follow instructions given to us because of their proven trustworthiness. In the end, just slow down and look into anything you receive that regards a high priority account before inputting username and passwords.

Overall, we have to be vigilant and use several security feature when it comes to unfamiliar texts or emails we receive. It’s especially important to help older friends and family members who may not be technologically savvy because they make up a large part of the victims of scams like this one among many others. If something doesn’t look or feel right about a text or email, odds are, it probably isn’t.

Take the help of a partner to enable 2FA and enhance cybersecurity.

Go Phishing

With COVID-19 changing the way many businesses are forced to work, phishing attacks have increased significantly while becoming more complex. Hackers often look at crises as opportunities and COVID-19 is no different. Attackers are using names of coworkers and companies to fool people into thinking they’re legitimate emails. With many employees working from home and logging in, there is an increased reliance on remote system tools, and phishing scams have evolved to mimic them.

Stressful times are upon us and there is no letup in sight. As a result, IT staff are finding themselves overwhelmed as they address a multitude of system issues, software problems, and new problems stemming from employees working remotely. Many employees are using personal devices, which are more vulnerable to cyber-attacks. To be truly prepared for remote work and sophisticated threats, businesses need to analyze their weaknesses and implement proper cybersecurity approaches.

At PROTECTED HARBOR, we provide custom solutions to cyber-attacks, ransomware and other debilitating infrastructure issues. Our team of IT professionals ensures your infrastructure is secure through the creation and implementation of security policies. We analyze and remediate risks to keep you safe. On average, we save our clients up to 30% on IT costs while increasing their security, productivity, durability and sustainability. We are an extension of many IT departments, freeing them up to concentrate on daily work while we do the heavy infrastructure lifting.

Contact us today to find out more, www.protectedharbor.com