by Paul Ford
The tensions in the Middle-East, never at a low ebb, were inflamed earlier this month by the assassination of the Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani by a US drone strike as he left Baghdad International airport in Iraq. Although the subsequent and disastrous accidental shooting down of the Ukraine International Airlines passenger jet has muddied the waters, the threat of retaliation, beyond the token missile strikes at US military bases shortly after the killing, remains real.
But of all the tools at Tehran’s disposal, the one most likely to be utilised is its cyber-warfare capabilities, and as result both the US and UK intelligence services are on raised awareness.
The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued an alert in early January stating that organisations should assess and strengthen their defences against this threat.
Although the likely targets are those with a high international profile or symbolic value, the collateral damage could be significant depending on the nature of the attack. Your organisation may not be hit but what happens if it’s a major client of yours?
So within your organisation, raise awareness. If possible a Cybersecurity Risk Assessment should be undertaken to pinpoint any weaknesses that might exist in your IT policies, procedures and environment. Ensure you have an incident or disaster recovery plan in place, and everyone is trained up, so in a worst case scenario everyone knows what to do and can go about a pre-planned response in a calm and methodical manner.
Even if you’re not a target now, hackers have hit numerous businesses in recent years causing reputational and financial harm. Doesn’t it make sense to ensure you’re as secure as you possibly can be and prepared in case you do fall victim to attack?
You can talk to our recruitment specialist Jon Goodman here at Volt if you think you might you might have gaps in your Cybersecurity skill set.