By Michael Sulmeyer
For years, major businesses have contended with hackers. In the recent past, that threat mostly came from China. Now, a resource-rich, risk-taking gang of hackers linked to Russia are rampant.
The Russian security services have extensive ties with the criminal underworld, and whether their hackers are working for the government or the mob can at times be a meaningless distinction. As a result, businesses, as well as governments, are targets.
To protect your business, consider these approaches:
- Get your priorities straight. You can’t safeguard your entire business from all forms of cyber attack. So, the first step is to determine which of your assets must be defended at all costs. What data is so critical to your company that unauthorized access to it would be a disaster?
- Assume you will be breached. The form of your defense against cyber attacks depends on the type of work you do. For example, if a particular system is needed around the clock, have you tested fallback mechanisms and backups?
- Create a communications plan. Plan ahead so that in case of a breach, you’ll know what to say, to whom and how.
- Join forces with other companies. If criminal hackers are victimizing your company, chances are they’re after your peers as well. So look at how participation in initiatives like Facebook’s ThreatExchange service can help you access timely information.
- Form relationships with law enforcement. Businesses often describe their relationship with law enforcement on cyber security as “give and take”—they give information; law enforcement takes it and disappears. But we can see a change in this dynamic: The US Justice Department has worked with victims on multiple indictments, even against state-sponsored hackers. And in certain situations, the FBI can tip off a company to a threat.
Michael Sulmeyer is the cybersecurity project director at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School.