News Insights: Hacking of Ukrainian Websites

It is being reported that several key Ukrainian websites, including two of the country’s largest banks and its defense ministry, were temporarily knocked offline Tuesday as a result of cyberattack https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/ukrainian-websites-temporarily-knocked-offline-cyberattack-rcna16328

News Insights:

James McQuiggan, security awareness advocate at KnowBe4, commented: “The DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks can utilize hundreds or thousands of devices to disrupt the communications for an organization and its internet-facing systems. It is like getting on the highway at rush hour and needing to get from one side of the city to another in 10 minutes, and it is impossible because of the volume of cars on the road, making the trip take 45 minutes. Technology exists to reduce a DDoS attack; however, it is difficult to stop the attack once it starts without disabling the equipment. Organizations can consider having non-essential systems in a cloud environment like their main website or email. They can install and configure anti-DDoS hardware or software in a cloud environment. Most importantly, having a DDoS incident response plan is critical so IT personnel can quickly implement the necessary actions to minimize the attack and effectively return the systems to operation.”