Cyber in a Hurricane

As Hurricane Ian slams into southwest Florida, the people and industry in area will have a chaotic few weeks or months and in some cases years to clean up and recover from the physical damage of the storm. However, there are criminals that will take advantage of the chaos to prey upon the distraction. Cyber criminals do not take a day off and they do not care that you are dealing with a real-world emergency that is life and death. What they care about is scamming you and taking your cash or Intellectual property or both.

Businesses and individuals are susceptible to cybercrime during natural disasters due to the crisis that must be handled. The CISO and cyber defense team are likely working to keep systems up and running. Power outages and communications issues can affect how normal operations are accomplished. Key individuals may not be able to get into the office or may not be able to be contacted quickly.

Maintain basic cyber hygiene:

• Don’t click on an email unless you know it is legitimate

• Update software

• Remind teams to be aware and vigilant

• Be prepared for sophisticated phishing emails

• Be prepared for fraudulent text massages

CISOs and Cyber Analyst must watch for unusual data flows within the network. Don’t let your guard down, because the criminals are constantly look for a weakness.