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3 Things Every Organization Should Do to Protect Against Cybercriminals

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Cybersecurity should be a top priority for organizations today, especially as employees continue to work remotely without business-grade protections. In the age of COVID-19, businesses are more vulnerable than ever. Whether it is phishing scams or malware, hackers are constantly finding new ways to attack businesses. In fact, in March 2020 alone, scams increased by 400%, and have continued to increase since then.

It is vital that employers protect their organizations and employees from cyberattacks, especially now. As new scams develop, businesses must create new ways to stave off hackers. Many steps can be taken to implement—and enforce—security measures as part of daily procedures for employees. By focusing on just three strategies, organizations can help better protect themselves from phishing scams and other cyberattacks.

1. Create a Comprehensive Plan

As organizations transitioned to remote work, employers had to make foundational shifts to adapt. The same is true for security threats. Cybersecurity measures need to become part of everyday routines and tasks. This means creating a plan to protect all assets and boost security in business processes.

Each organization’s security strategy also needs to align with its specific business risks. Performing risk assessments will allow employers to determine where they need to invest in cybersecurity. It is important to identify key digital assets within networks and personal devices so that employers can determine how to best protect them.

Once an organization’s risks are assessed, it can create a plan to suit these needs. For example, a cybersecurity strategy may include secure remote access or virtual private networks (VPNs), especially for virtual workers, to protect devices from threats posed by public internet connections. Other strategies include implementing multi-factor authentication, assigning access permissions to employees and maintaining regular backups.

2. Prioritize Investments in Cybersecurity

Protecting an organization requires the proper tools. A trustworthy security framework is a vital aspect of managing risks. For many remote or hybrid workplaces, areas like cloud and or software as a service (SaaS) security are top of mind. To manage and protect these environments, organizations should shift to software-defined networking (SDN) with secure access and/or secure service edge capabilities.  

Firewalls are also an important aspect of security, as they place a barrier between trusted internal networks and the outside world. Maintaining end-to-end security has become even more difficult in the age of remote work.

Investing in threat-monitoring and endpoint protection tools can also help. While there is no silver bullet to combat the myriad threats, layering cybersecurity methods helps create “defense in depth,” better positioning the organization to face whatever specific cyberrisks may be exploited next.

3. Take the Time to Train Employees

Strategy and security are futile without proper training. Organizations must commit to continuously training employees so that they are not only aware of what cyberattacks to watch for, but what to do if they notice something. This means ensuring that employees are comfortable reporting scams. By starting training during onboarding and conducting it regularly as scams evolve or emerge, workers can shift from liabilities to assets.

Cybersecurity training ranges from phishing testing to password and device management. Employers must teach workers to update their systems, be cautious with external devices like flash drives, and practice physical device security.

Reaction is just as important as prevention. Organizations should have a plan for employees if they fall victim to a scam or notice something unusual so IT or information security professionals can solve the issue as quickly as possible and mitigate the damage.

Ignoring cybersecurity is a huge risk, as cyberattacks can have serious consequences for businesses and their customers, suppliers and partners alike. It is critical to develop a strong cybersecurity strategy and invest in resources and training. Security is continuing to increase in importance as remote work remains and threats rise. By understanding the issues, challenges and potential threats of a cyberattack, organizations can determine what steps and precautions can be taken to decrease the likelihood of a cyberattack in the future.

Five Strategies to Protect Against Ransomware and Other Cyberattacks

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As organizations continue to adapt to remote or hybrid work models, it has never been more vital to have a robust cybersecurity program to better protect against ransomware attacks and other cyberattacks against company systems and personnel. Ransomware attacks have proven a particular risk in recent years, with attacks like the Colonial Pipeline and myriad attacks on health care organizations demonstrating the serious impact of cyberattacks beyond financial risks, affecting everyday life and business operations.

Ransomware and other cyberattacks are always evolving. Attackers are constantly finding new ways to infiltrate environments while trying to stay undetected. Cyberattacks can target many different points in an organization’s ecosystem, including firewall configuration, patch management, network segmentation and defensive technology. The following five strategies can help companies mitigate cyberrisk and respond to threats quickly and efficiently:

1. Strengthen Asset Inventory
You cannot protect what you do not know exists or cannot see. Having an efficient asset management program can significantly increase visibility and rapidly provide detailed information about systems in the event of a cyberattack. Organizations should document system or device types, operating systems and software used. To be more granular and aggressive, consider documenting what ports and service systems use for business functions and use that as a baseline for future firewall rules and network exceptions.

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Having a strong program is key for every organization, but is even more important in remote work environments.

2. Conduct Security Awareness Training
A comprehensive and effective security awareness program for employees benefits the organization at large. An efficient security awareness program extends visibility and cyber threat detection beyond defensive technologies applied in the environment by empowering people to be a critical line of defense. A robust security awareness training program allows employees to assist with the detection of network anomalies, suspicious emails and other potential threats.

3. Assess Antivirus and Endpoint Detection and Response Programs
Traditionally, antivirus programs have helped detect malicious activity. However, the problem with the traditional antivirus approach in modern day cybersecurity is that attackers regularly update their code to obfuscate and bypass signature-based antivirus products. By employing an endpoint detection and response (EDR) product, organizations create an efficient response to detecting malicious programs and activities based on network anomalies rather than signatures alone. If purchasing and implementing an EDR solution is not viable, consider additional layers of defense around the antivirus software. Ultimately, the goal is to increase visibility and the ability to alert upon suspicious activity.

4. Monitor and Detect New Processes
In addition to having inventory on assets, an organization should document legitimate system processes and software. Upon gaining access to an environment, ransomware downloads and executes its installer to infect the victim. Ensuring visibility into your environment can help IT and information security teams to detect programs or processes with behaviors that deviate from the norm. In turn, this allows operations and incident response teams to respond quickly in the event of those anomalies.
One example is Microsoft Windows’ AppLocker, which generates messages and alerts about anomalies such as when an attacker attempts to install an executable outside of the known baselined created. By creating baseline rules, AppLocker will create an 8003 warning message that can be collected and parsed using a security incident and event management (SIEM) product or log aggregator and monitored by the IT or information security team.

5. Network Anomaly Detection
Ransomware moves laterally across the network while infecting systems. This can be done quickly while raising flags or network anomalies such as authenticating to several systems within minutes. It is uncommon for systems or domain administrators to connect to multiple systems rapidly and on a large scale on internal networks. To differentiate between legitimate and potentially malicious activity, network administrators must first document legitimate network connections and known behaviors. This supports anomaly detection by establishing outbound and inbound connectivity from the organization’s servers.

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Once the legitimate network connection is documented and a baseline is created, you can leverage defensive technologies and monitoring programs to alert when deviations occur. Then, create alerts in firewalls and SIEM solutions to quickly detect and respond to network anomalies.

As cybercriminals become more advanced, cybersecurity programs must also evolve to identify and prevent malicious behavior. By implementing the best practices and strategies mentioned above, organizations can dramatically reduce their exposure to ransomware and other cyberattacks.

Cyberrisk Management Tips for Businesses Amid the Russia-Ukraine War

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A wide range of risks are trickling down from Russia’s assault on Ukraine, from sanctions compliance to supply chain disruption to business interruption. Cyberrisk has also drawn considerable concern and the threat landscape continues to evolve rapidly, though the details of increased cyberattack activity are not yet fully known and may be largely unfolding below the surface right now. Attacks attributed to Russia have been launched against a range of targets in Ukraine, including new destructive malware campaigns, targeted information-gathering against a range of civilian and government targets, and attacks on critical infrastructure.

Concerns about escalating cyber activity around the crisis are a vivid reminder of the importance of knowing your threat model and adjusting your risk management priorities accordingly. According to experts ranging from independent cybersecurity professionals to officials at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), organizations at greatest risk right now include critical infrastructure, banks and other financial services firms, and of course key service providers in Ukraine or Russia.

Spill-over to other businesses is more likely with cyber conflict, however, particularly given Russia is one of the most advanced and aggressive nation-state cyber threat actors—remember the crippling global attack known as NotPetya that upended supply chains in 2017 resulted from a Russian cyberattack on Ukraine. That is not to say that there is necessarily cause for panic, simply that the effects of cyber conflict can be unexpected, widespread and potentially severe.

At this point, for most companies that are not in a high-risk position as a direct result of the war, the best course of action for risk professionals is to focus on ensuring your company has an updated and detailed incident response plan on hand and distributing it to relevant members of the organization, reviewing and potentially strengthening your general cybersecurity posture, and reminding employees about cyber hygiene.

For example, given the tragic events and breaking developments around the conflict, many may be glued to news or social media. Unfortunately malicious actors are known to take advantage of such situations by posting phishing links on social media with alleged news updates or email scams that purport to collect charity donations. Remind employees about these perils and offer refreshers on how to spot phishing scams and the need to exercise caution with links in emails or on social media.

“In addition to taking a fresh look at plans and other policies within an organization’s cybersecurity risk framework, businesses should consider a few common-sense tips to prepare for a potential cyber incident,” advised Annmarie Giblin, partner at Hinshaw & Culbertson and leader of the firm’s data privacy and cybersecurity practice. Giblin recommended risk professionals take the following steps to boost cyberrisk management efforts right now:

  1. Print out a hard copy of any necessary polices and plans, like the cyber incident response plan, the business’ cyber insurance policy and a contact list for the organization, so you have them available in the event you cannot access your system and need to communicate with employees through alternative methods.
  2. Remind your employees about common cyber scams and reiterate that there will be no retaliation for reporting a cybersecurity mistake, such as clicking on a bad link.
  3. Have key members of the executive team and incident response team set up a secure but alternate method of communication, such as sharing phone numbers or creating a different off system email address to communicate in the event the business’ systems are not available or not trusted.
  4. Keep track of the latest threats and get the research over to your IT team so they can update your firewall, and/or contact the business’ security services provider and make sure they are aware of and addressing these new malware strains.
  5. Evaluate and if possible, test your business continuity plans. Organizations should be asking themselves, “What does the work day look like without access to the business’ systems?” and “How can we still work without any technology support?”

Cyber insurance firm Coalition has put together a guide to basic cybersecurity measures to help organizations—policyholders and otherwise—proactively manage cyberrisk and reduce the likelihood of a cybersecurity incident. The guide provides 10 key steps to help improve cyberrisk management, highlighting the basics of each mitigation measure, tips on how to implement, and even some vendor suggestions for credible options, if desired. Coalition notes this may be particularly helpful for small and mid-sized businesses that do not necessarily have dedicated in-house information security experts, but it could also be worth a look for any risk professional who wants an overview of mitigations that should be in place or ways to fill those gaps. Check it out here: https://info.coalitioninc.com/rs/566-KWJ-784/images/DLC-2020-12-2021-Coalition-Cybersecurity-Guide.pdf

For more resources on cyberrisk management best practices, cyber incident response, cyber insurance considerations, and more, check out Risk Management Magazine’s extensive cyber coverage here. Some of the highlights below can help address key concerns that you—or your board—may have right now, and offer actionable strategies to strengthen your cyberrisk readiness and boost employee cyber hygiene:

RIMS Risk Forum India 2021: Building Resilience As COVID, Cyberrisk Top Business Risks

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An increasingly key theme year over year, resilience is at the root of the latest Excellence in Risk Management India report from Marsh and RIMS—and the RIMS Risk Forum India 2021 virtual event, where the report was officially released today. In the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, risk professionals in India reported acute short- and long-term concerns about the interconnected risks of COVID-19 cases, global economic recession, and surging cyberrisks amid shifts in work arrangements.

In addition to the death of more than 5 million people in India, the pandemic has taken a considerable economic toll on the region. “According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), India’s economy contracted by close to 8% in 2020, while the world’s economy contracted by 3.5%,” the report noted. “Despite the OECD’s projections for economic expansion—both in India and globally—in 2021 and 2022, the potential for a prolonged global recession remains a concern for organizations in India.

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Previously one of the top risks for India-based risk professionals before COVID-19, cyberrisk has also increased significantly with the pandemic and the shift to remote work. “The shift to a remote workforce necessitated by sweeping lockdowns to stem the spread of the pandemic is widely seen as having increased cyberrisk,” Marsh and RIMS noted. “The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) data indicated that cyberattacks in India rose by 300% in 2020, according to news reports. And cyber risk remained elevated in 2021, with more than 600,000 cybersecurity incidents reported in the first six months of the year alone, according to CERT.”

The continuing pandemic, resulting fallout, and ever-growing cyberrisk have presented the biggest risks for organizations in India in 2021, and the survey indicates that local risk professionals expect these to dominate the agenda for businesses in the year to come.

Despite the considerable concern, few respondents said their company is fully prepared for the continued fallout from COVID-19 or future pandemics. Asked to rate their organization’s preparedness from 1 to 5 (not prepared to fully prepared, respectively), the majority of India-based risk professionals ranked their organization a 3, and only 10% said they are fully prepared. While cyberrisk has been a top threat for longer, preparation is not much better for the threat—only a quarter of Indian companies said they are fully prepared for a cyberattack. This is particularly concerning as “some extent of remote work is expected to remain, leading to concerns of increased cyberattacks due to unsecured home networks,” Marsh said in a press release.

According to the report, this underscores the imperative to develop robust risk management strategies for both current and emerging risks and to focus on building resilience. Marsh identified four “common behaviors among companies that are on the path to becoming more resilient”: anticipating risk, connecting risk management to business strategy, avoiding gaps in the perception of preparedness, and measuring relevant data. Marsh and RIMS explained these further, defining key pillars that have set successful businesses apart, and potentially also offering considerations for other organizations to develop more mature risk management programs:

  • Anticipation: Resilient companies expect the unexpected. They have crisis management plans in place, but they also dig deeper, look farther ahead. Consider that during the pandemic even organizations with thorough business continuity plans struggled. Why? Many of them didn’t fully anticipate the widespread, long-lasting damage a pandemic could create.
  • Integration: Another key behavior among resilient organizations is to fully integrate risk management with operations and strategy. Doing so increases the ability to develop effective responses. Most organizations do not connect resilience planning with their long-term investment strategy. Those that do make the connection are on the path to better mitigating financial exposure, reputational damage, business interruption, and other losses.
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  • Preparedness: On the journey to resilience, it’s important to develop an accurate perception of an organization’s preparedness. A false sense of security can halt an organization in its tracks. Companies often overestimate how quickly and effectively they will be able to respond to and recover from a given risk.
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  • Measurement: There is no shortage of data and analytics in today’s business environment. But consistently applying metrics can be a stumbling block. Many companies fail to conduct a high rate of modeling and forecasting even on risks they see as important. And among the companies that do so, most only model in select areas.

Marsh and RIMS recommended that organizations in India focus on resilience heading into 2022 and beyond. “Resilience means being able to absorb the impact from a range of emerging risks and depends in large part on having robust risk management strategies in place,” the report explained. “This includes anticipating risk, connecting risk management to business strategy, ensuring your organization’s perception of preparedness doesn’t lead to a false sense of security, and measuring relevant data.”

Respondents largely indicated that their organization planned to increase investment in risk management, with 55% saying they expect increased resources, 27% expecting investment to stay the same, and only 4% expecting a decrease. This could be a critical differentiator in navigating COVID-19 recovery and other emerging risks in 2022. Indeed, 42% cited budget at the most critical barrier to understanding the impact of emerging risks on risk management.

Among the takeaways from the report, Marsh and RIMS urged organizations to invest in preparedness. “Look beyond pandemic as you develop a risk management strategy that is prepared to respond to any number of emerging risks,” the report said. “For example, shifting work patterns have intensified an already escalating cyber risk landscape that calls for a range of responses, from scenario planning to financial quantification.”

In addition to a panel on the Excellence in Risk Management India report, the RIMS Risk Forum India 2021 virtual event includes a number of sessions that address resilience challenges and opportunities for risk professionals in India. The program includes keynote addresses by Ajay Srinivasan, chief executive officer at Aditya Birla Capital Limited (ABCL), and Dr. Soumya Kanti Ghosh, group chief economic advisor at the State Bank of India, as well as education sessions like “Cyber Risk Management: A Priority for a Resilient Economy,” “Climate Risk and Your Path to Resilience,” “What COVID-19 Has Taught Us About ESG Risks and Why Risk Management Needs to Change,” and “Breaking the Chain: How Understanding Business Interruption Exposures Can Mean Supply Chain Resilience.”

The RIMS Risk Forum India 2021 virtual event continues tomorrow, December 4, and sessions will also be available for on-demand viewing for the next 60 days. Registration can be found here: https://www.rims.org/events/rf/india-forum-2021