On Tuesday, Ukraine was the victim of a cyberattack. Yes, you read that correctly: a country served as the target of cybercriminals. For some time, Ukrainian defense agencies and backs could not access their websites. This type of attack is known as a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack.
A website is typically configured to handle a standard volume of traffic. DDoS attacks, however, flood a website or network with traffic that it is unable to handle. The result is that legitimate visitors to the website—employees and customers—cannot access the site The websites of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces and two prominent Ukrainian banks were back up by Wednesday but the attack was still ongoing.
After looking into the event, information suggests that the attack is very similar to that of Russia and Belarus last month.
What this means for you
It shouldn’t be surprising that most countries have cybersecurity plans in place. Ukrainian officials quickly responded, which allowed the websites to rapidly recover. A true cybersecurity strategy consists of two parts: prevention and recovery. Even if an organization or government cannot prevent a cyberattack, there are systems and protocols to repel the intrusion and restore their systems.
In this day in age, cybercriminals are everywhere. They are always evolving and looking for ways to work around firewalls, antivirus software, and other cybersecurity practices. It is no longer a question of if, but when, an organization will be a target for a cyberattack.
A cyberattack can impact your operations and reputation. The threats aren’t going away, but you can help fortify your operations against these threats.
What you should do now
If you do not have a cybersecurity plan, you need one. At the very least, you should have antivirus software, a firewall, and backups in place for your business. We also recommend multi-factor authentication and a disaster recovery plan. There is no way to completely protect yourself, or your business, from an attack. But having a disaster recovery plan will make it possible for you to recover and return to business as quickly as possible.
This is where a security expert such as a managed IT service provider can elevate your business.
How Anteris can help
Security is one of our top priorities. We pride ourselves on constant innovation to stay in front of threats. Anteris has next-level monitoring and backup systems to protect your business. And we believe education is the key to prevention. We work with our Clients to provide ongoing education to make employees aware of the security dangers and provide them with the knowledge of the best practices for protecting against cyber threats.
If you’d like to develop a plan to address cybersecurity threats, reach out to our team today to set up a conversation.
