Russia and cybersecurity: Concerns for everyday Americans
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – As a ground war rages in Ukraine, warnings are being issued in the United States about a possible cyber war with Russia.
The bottom line is that a Russian cyberattack can be crippling to both individuals and companies and shut down our way of life.
Security expert Craig Petronella said on a scale of 1-to-10, concern over a Russian cyberattack on American soil “is an 11.”
In May 2021, the Colonial Pipeline was shut down by Russian hackers, crippling gas supply in North Carolina for days. Petronella said it could be far worse next time around.
“I think they’ll do blanket attacks where they scan for low-hanging fruit,” he said.
What could be targeted
One low-hanging fruit would be a cellphone, where hackers can use robocalls to infect thousands of phones.
“These are effective methods of mass distribution of malware, bad files and data destruction,” Petronella said.
Because phones are often synched to computers, that malware can migrate to them and go after a big corporations by creating a denial-of-service attack, which crashes their systems.
“They have all these slave computers ready to go at the push of a button and attack all at one time,” he said.
Computers can also be held for ransom by Russian hackers, which is what happened with the Colonial Pipeline.
“We all have pictures and data that are typically important to us,” Petronella said. “They’ll ask for extortion or lock up your stuff.”
How to guard against cyberattacks
Petronella said people should back up photos and other data with several different vendors or on a device not connected to the internet. There are numerous other steps that can be taken, too:
- Use automatic fraud call blocking on cellphones
- Use pin codes on accounts
- Don’t click on links in text messages
- Use complex, hard to guess passwords
- Don’t reuse passwords
To keep track of all those different, complex passwords, use a password manager app and change those passwords frequently.
Petronella said people need to be their own cybersecurity cops and protect themselves.
Gloss