Feds Launch Campaign to Raise Awareness of Cyber Risks Faced by Private Sector Firms
A new public awareness campaign has been launched to raise awareness of cyber risks and to get businesses in all industry sectors to improve their information security practices and cyber defenses.
The “Know the Risk, Raise your Shield” campaign is being run by the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The campaign advises businesses to strengthen passwords, protect social media accounts, implement safeguards to protect against phishing and spear phishing, establish who is calling before any sensitive information is disclosed over the telephone, and not to expect privacy when travelling overseas as electronic equipment can be subject to interference and surveillance.
The aim of the campaign is to provide U.S. companies with information to help them understand the cyber threats they now face and to help them take steps to improve their defense against those threats.
Well-financed nation-state backed threat actors are targeting private sector firms in the United States to gain access to sensitive information, proprietary data and are compromising supply chains. Russia poses the greatest threat, although state-sponsored hackers from China, North Korea, and Iran are also attacking U.S. businesses, as are many independent threat actors.
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Attacks are being conducted for financial gain, to disrupt businesses, and with political intent. The attacks threaten U.S. national security and global competitiveness. “The attacks are persistent, aggressive, and cost our nation jobs, economic advantage, and hundreds of billions of dollars,” explained NCSC Director William Evanina.
A series of training videos have been posted on the following topics:
- Social media deception
- Social engineering
- Spear phishing
- Travel awareness
- Human targeting
- Supply chain risk management
- Economic espionage
Posters, brochures, and flyers are also available for download from the NCSC to help raise awareness of the threats among employees. The training materials can be accessed on the following link.
Source: NCSC
