CISA sign an agreement to strengthen cybersecurity

Words by George Ralph, Global Managing Director & CRO at RFA.

I was interested to read recently that at the end of July, the CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) in the US signed an agreement, known as a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC), with the Ukrainian State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine (SSSCIP) to deepen their strategy for collaborating on cybersecurity priorities.

The MOC agreement will ensure that the CISA will continue to work closely with the Ukraine government in the following areas: cybersecurity training and joint exercises, critical infrastructure security technical exchanges and information exchanges and sharing of best practices on cyber incidents.

Since February 2022, the Biden Administration and the CISA have repeatedly warned about the threat of Russian cyber attacks in the US. These warnings have triggered a heightened state of alert for many US businesses, including those within the alternative investment sector such as hedge funds and private equity firms.

Jen Easterly, Director at CISA commented on the agreement that she is “incredibly pleased to sign this MOC to deepen cybersecurity collaborations with our Ukrainian partners”. In a time whereby cybercrime surpasses borders, international efforts have never been more critical.

The Russo-Ukrainian War signaled a new age of cyber warfare that is within its infancy. In today’s modern world, cyber warfare is now one of the elementary tools of the military. Russia has a considerable amount of resources available to attack systems and infrastructure in Ukraine, or in fact any other country. Following the outbreak of war, cyberattacks that were suspected to be Russian-sourced increased by over 800% in a 48 hour period. However, since the war began, the importance of collaboration in order to stay protected has never been more important.

Firms in the US and worldwide have been presented with a global cyber challenge that has been unprecedented. The security of their IT, data and assets are significant and key target prizes of any cyber attack. Due to this threat, firms must be vigilant and be able to work swiftly and diligently in the event of an attack in order to protect their assets, data, business and investors. We must all be alert to network attacks, ransomware, advanced persistent threats (APTs), code flaw vulnerabilities, malware and data destruction.

It’s great to see governments are working collaboratively with businesses to minimise risks by asking companies to report any cyberattacks quickly. A key part of this strategy requires firms to create managed detection and response plans, as well as invest in vulnerability scanning and remediation. RFA works with clients to deliver on these objectives within our managed security services. Powered by behavioral analysis and machine learning, our managed detection and response systems respond to threat intelligence efficiently and at speed. Our solution offers all-inclusive anomaly detection, facilitating real-time risk containment 24/7/365. As the dangers of cyber warfare continues to increase, this 24/7/365 is vital to both risk management and to help regulators in collaboration with government authorities such as the CISA.

In today’s digital climate, attacks are increasingly more sophisticated and firms cannot afford to not be able to detect any threats as they arise. We are in a time of massive geopolitical changes, but we also have the opportunity to help ourselves with the right IT infrastructure. Do get in touch, I am happy to help.