Russian cybersecurity risks and tips to mitigate them

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - Aaron Warner, CEO of Procircular, a cybersecurity firm in Coralville, told KCRG-TV9 that there is a high risk of cybersecurity attacks by Russia.

Federal agencies like the National Security Agency, FBI, and Homeland Security are well-equipped to deal with Russian cyberwarfare, but cities and states are more at risk. Hackers tend to attack vital infrastructure that suffers from downtime, such as transportation, hospitals, and the gas and oil industry.

Warner said that civilians are more at risk than the military, but there are things individuals can do to protect themselves and their businesses.

”Back up your valuable information and make sure that you can restore it,” Warner said. “Make sure that you’re using two-factor authentication wherever you can. Geoblock any country that you’re not actually doing business with, and this is a good time to work out your incidence response plan.”

Geoblocking is the act of prohibiting traffic from a specific location to a website. Warner said Internet Service Providers should be able to walk users through that process.

This is an ongoing situation that Warner said could worsen.

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