Between the War in Ukraine and the rising number of ransomware attacks in the financial sector, community banks and credit unions are more vulnerable than ever. Fortunately, the US Government isn’t standing still on the matter, issuing a broad call for organizations of all kinds to put their “shields up” with new cybersecurity protections. A new, broad cybersecurity preparedness program was unrolled in 2022, and the program continues to build on the National Institutes of Science and Technology security protocols.
The program has several purposes:
- Creating a baseline of cybersecurity recommendations for all businesses to follow
- Developing a central repository for cybersecurity advice and vulnerability alerts, to inform decision making for businesses
- Creating a centralized vulnerability reporting program, so businesses can report attacks and risk management activity. This allows the government to gain visibility into the types and patterns of attacks that are occurring.
When it comes to Cybersecurity, of course, knowledge is power. Shields Up is an important way for that knowledge sharing to spread.
Recent CISA Alerts
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) regularly issues alerts about new measures organizations should take. In early 2023, for instance, they issued recommendations to adopt a zero trust architecture, which continuously verifies the identity of users on your network while they are on your network. Stay tuned to the latest CISA alerts for information on common business tools and platforms that have issed vulnerability alerts and patches.
How to Report Vulnerabilities to CISA
Due to the greater international situation surrounding recent attacks occurring in Ukraine by Russia, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have released the following information for U.S. financial institutions:
In this heightened threat environment, CISA asks that organizations lower thresholds for reporting incidents to the FBI or CISA to help the U.S. government identify issues and help protect against further attack or victims.
Reporting can be to CISA at [email protected] or (888) 282-0870; or to an FBI local field office, to the FBI’s 24/7 CyWatch at (855) 292-3937, or to [email protected].
And, for bank business customers and consumers, you may find information at CISA’s Shields-Up website: https://www.cisa.gov/shields-up.
Want to keep up to date? Stay tuned to CISA, as well as our Integris blog, where we’ll be issuing new information as it comes in!
