With the latest round of problems impacting the globe, we see a rise in attacks against many countries. Specifically, the United States has returned to the top 5 list of cyber threat targets. That’s not to say China, Russia, and others aren’t also in the mix.
As a security-focused company, the team at Exceed considers your security a key component in maintaining a safe and stable environment for our customers and partners. Among the specific indicators, we monitor activity reports indicating attacks originating from anonymous sources, alerts from our security analysis applications, and more defined attacks such as APT (Advanced Persistent Threat) from nation-states or those acting on behalf of nation-states. Cyber attacks are increasing in frequency and sophistication, and that’s why we continue to invest in security intelligence, threat monitoring, and incident response. It’s our job to help you keep your information secure.
We are continuously determining new strategies to mitigate risks to our products and our infrastructure, and we will continually augment our security measures to increase protection for our clients. The best way to protect yourself is to act proactively. We know that security is a critical issue for all industries, and we regularly evaluate new technologies and approaches to reduce risks to your information. In the meantime, we hope you’ll look at our resources and services.
We recommend the following steps:
- Teach your team about the risks involved after being phished or engaging in social engineering attacks.
- Establish two-factor authentication on all critical accounts used by your team or you.
- Make sure that data and communications systems at your company are safe. Attackers may be planning to use your systems as a pivot point to attack your clients.
- Make a point of watching your entire system with added focus on the security logs.
- Monitor for new files appearing that your staff didn’t create.
- Monitor financial activity in your organization to stay ahead of fraud attempts.
- It’s crucial to ensure that PII (personally identifiable information) is well guarded, especially in your HR systems.
- “Watch for the weird” Encourage open communication; at a minimum, you’ll have an interesting conversation—and at worst, you may help prevent an attack.
- Adopt a sufficiently suspicious approach.
- Did you receive an email from a vendor about an unpaid invoice? Call the vendor back to confirm.
- Did a customer call you for sensitive information? Email them back using a known email address to confirm the request.
- Remember to confirm requests using a different known contact method.
Exceed Consulting is here to answer any questions you might have. We sincerely hope for a quick and safe resolution to the current global state of heightened alert before it worsens.
We are always concerned for all individuals affected by this serious matter.