Prepared for the Risk of Cyber War overflowing into Canada?
Recent analysis by Fitch Ratings has shown an increase in Russian cyberattack activity on businesses and government agencies with the risk of spillover attacks on non-primary targets becoming much more widespread.
As part of their recent invasion, Russia blitzed Ukraine with DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks and data-wiping malware. Russian government attacks typically focus on other governments, their infrastructure and their contractors, but Russia-based ransomware groups like the Conti ransomware group and Darksideare a more serious concern to the average business because there is no telling what they and the Russian government will do in response to Anonymous and other freelancers attacking Russian assets.
The Russians have extraordinary cyber capabilities. The Russian-based Conti ransomware group has pledged their allegiance to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Conti is the most aggressive and profitable ransomware group in operation today. Russia-based Darkside shut down the Columbia pipeline in 2021 cutting in half the U.S. East Coast’s fuel supply. Expect your insurer to invoke Force Majeure and decline your malware insurance claim if Conti or Darkside overtly acts on behalf of the Russian government.
It’s time to reduce your attack surface.
Reduce the Worry About Russian Cyberattacks with DNS Firewall
If you are not already using DNS protection, our free DNS Firewall powered by the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) helps block botnet drones, ransom malware and data-wiping malware from reaching their command and control servers. Without DNS Firewall or an equivalent, if a botnet drone did reach Command and Control, you might never know that your compromised machines are being used for DDoS attacks.
Is Google Public DNS an Easy Target?
Setting up DNS Firewall is as simple as changing your DNS to 216.251.142.142 and 74.50.239.1 or another provider’s secure DNS. This is especially important if you are using Google’s public DNS 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4 which seem to be obvious potential targets for attack. Avoid mixing multiple different providers which will negate the efficacy of blocking dangerous queries.
For more on setting up Skyway’s DNS Firewall, click here.