We Must Never Let our Cyber Guard Down

Soon after the conflict started, the background noise was undeniable. Stirring out in the unknown, threat indications were off the charts, and they have sustained at a historical pace. An 800% increase in cyberattacks originating from suspected Russian actors was seen. While many were surprised when the earliest attacks emerged against Ukraine, quickly the tables turned and many of the hackers attacked Russia's infrastructure instead motivated to defend Ukraine. It is irresponsible for us not to recognize that this is a global cyberwar, and attacks can and will come from anywhere not just Russia, China, and a few rogue countries.

Unfortunately, when cyber defenses work, there is a human tendency to become complacent. If you fall into this perception trap, you will quickly find yourself in survival mode — scrambling to restore and recover, and in a position where the best explanation was that the attack was somehow "unexpected." The Russia threat is still very real. The global cyberthreat is also still very real. The nature of the next move from hackers is still unknown, but based on history and the thunder of background activity, cyber attacks are extremely high on the list.