UNITED STATES – With President Biden announcing sanctions on Russian banks in attempts to weaken Russia in the global economy. There have been concerns of potential cyberattacks on our banks.
Cyberattacks can come in many ways like ransomware attacks, malware or phishing attempts.
According to IT Specialist Brian Wisdom from Datalink Networks, when it comes to attacks on organizations, including banks, hackers tend to target individuals within the company.
“A Netflix account check on payment options, things that are seemingly everyday lifestyle that people click on and the attack happens,” Wisdom said.
If a cyberattack on banks were to happen, it could potentially stop people from accessing their money.
“What they’ll inevitably do is lock up the user for leverage over the banking institution,” Wisdom said.
Senior Supervisory Intelligence Analyst with the FBI in Seattle, LT Chu, said there are concerns of Russian cyberattacks on our infrastructure and companies. Fortunately, they’ve been preparing for this for a while now.
“What we’ve done is produced several cybersecurity advisories along with our partners in CISA and NSA which identifies Russian malware signatures, indicators of compromise and TTPs,” Chu said.
Chu said he recommends companies create a plan to prepare for an attack rather than being reactive.
I reached out to Bank of America, Chase, Wells Fargo, Keybank and many others asking what precautions they were taking to prepare for an attack.
Keybank gave a statement which said,
“We understand the current concern of cyber threats against American banks in this uncertain time. We are aware of reports of specific threats related to the situation in Ukraine and are monitoring for signs of such activity. For security reasons, we don’t discuss specific cybersecurity measures we have in place. The security of our clients is a top priority as we take precautions to protect our clients’ financial concerns and comply with regulatory guidance.”
Wells Fargo sent a statement that said,
“At Wells Fargo, the security of our customers’ accounts and information is our priority. As always, Wells Fargo continues to closely monitor our networks to ensure the security of both Wells Fargo and our customers’ data. We also partner closely with industry organizations and governmental agencies to appropriately prepare for and respond to current events.”
I also reached out to The Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC). They sent a statement which said,
“The Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC), its members, and the broader financial services industry remain vigilant to all cyber threats and anomalous activity. Our global intelligence team is continuing to actively assess the situation through enhanced monitoring and cross-border threat intelligence sharing with our member firms around the world.”
According to Wisdom, in today’s world, cyberattacks are far too common. One attack happens every 13 seconds. That’s why it’s important for companies to take their cybersecurity seriously.
“A lot of times you’re not thinking about protecting your environment or your assets until you’re actually hit with ransomware or the attack,” Wisdom said. “Now you have to be more proactive than ever because it’s not a matter of if but when an attack will occur.”
There are also steps that you can take to protect your personal information on your devices. This includes having updated antivirus, anti-malware software and making sure they’re preforming regular scans.
You can also install spam filters and use multifactor authentication on your accounts. You should also look out for anything that may seem fishy.
“Always ask questions if anything looks abnormal it probably is, if something is too good to be true it probably is, always over communicate. So if you’re in a business to business day-to-day go up and ask that individual who sent you that email, hey did you send me that email to have me send you $150 in gift cards,” Wisdom said.
