WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th May, 2022) US authorities including the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Thursday urged companies not to hesitate to report concerns about possible malign cyber activity amid a purported increase in Russian interest in targeting US networks.
"History has also shown that the Russian government is willing to engage in and deploy disruptive and destructive cyber attacks, and that's why we're continuing to call on every organization, both large and small, to take steps now to ensure our collective preparedness and resilience," Matt Hartman, deputy executive assistant director of cybersecurity at CISA, told a briefing hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce.
Businesses may see the first indicators of Russian cyber activity against the United States, and so they are urged to call Federal authorities if they see something suspicious or are experiencing a cyber-related problem, FBI Cyber Division Section Chief Mike Herrington also said.
Herrington cited an alleged increased scanning in past months of US energy industry networks by Russian IP addresses as evidence of what the Biden administration perceives as an increased risk of malign cyber activity by Moscow.
Small businesses and non-critical infrastructure are not exempt from the risk of becoming the victim of cyber activities, Hartman also said. The increased risk is seen across all sectors and organizational sizes, he added.
