On Thursday 24 February 2022 an urgent warning for all businesses to enhance their cyber security posture was issued by the Australian Government, after a move to support allies in imposing financial sanctions on Russia was made.
While it is unlikely that these new financial sanctions will prompt a direct retaliation, Australia’s former national cyber security adviser and chief strategy officer for CyberCX, Alastair MacGibbon, predicts Australian businesses could become “collateral damage” as a result of attacks against infrastructure inside the Ukraine and agencies such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
A stern warning from Security Experts
The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) said while they are "not aware of any current or specific threats to Australian organisations, adopting an enhanced cyber security posture and increased monitoring for threats will help to reduce the impacts"
Further, Professor of Cyber Security and Behaviour at Western Sydney University, Dr Alana Maurushat says that the time to Backup, implement Multi-Factor Authentication, and arrange cyber insurance is now, warning that 'malicious software, ransomware and other will spread at an expedited speed in days to come, and no one will be immune."
What can I do to improve the cyber security posture of my business NOW?
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says all businesses should immediately review and adopt enhanced cyber security measures such as malware detection, mitigation, and response.
The ACSC strongly recommends organisations implement the Essential Eight mitigation strategies from the ACSC’s Strategies to Mitigate Cyber Security Incidents as a baseline. This baseline, known as the Essential Eight, makes it much harder for cybercriminals to compromise systems.
Here, we have pulled the listing of The Essential Eight mitigation strategies for our readers. They include:
- Application control
- Patch applications
- Configure Microsoft Office macro settings
- User application hardening
- Restrict administrative privileges
- Patch operating systems
- Multi-factor authentication; and
- Regular backups.
In previous blogs, we have discussed key strategies to protect your business this year, which addresses not only starting with The Essential Eight, but also Cyber Security Awareness Training for all employees, and modern protection solutions for all businesses.
Again, we recommend that all businesses speak with their technology provider to ensure that their cyber security defences include the following modern protection solutions:
- Endpoint Detection and Response
- Next-gen firewall (FortiGate)
- Routine Patching
- Multi-Factor Authentication
How Diamond IT can help strengthen your cyber defences
The Diamond IT team specialise in reviewing cyber security strategies to ensure they are fit-for-purpose, align with government recommendations, and include the necessary defences required to best protect your business from malicious threats.
Our Business Technology Managers (BTMs) and Business Technology Consulting team are specialists in improving your internal cybersecurity and are ready to speak with you. Contact our team on 1300 307 907 today.
