The team at FAVBET Tech, who are partners of the CyberPolk volunteer community and active members of the IT Army of Ukraine’s Digital Transformation Ministry, have put together a number of tips on personal cybersecurity for Ukrainians and shared their own experience in protecting digital borders
Strong passwords, regular updates, and data protection: Basic approaches to cybersecurity
“There’s a fairly standard set of rules that any user should follow during the war,” says Artem Skrypnyk, CEO of FAVBET Tech.
First of all, you should avoid any Russian resources or those administered from the territory of the Russian Federation. Potentially, they can all collect user data and thus provide it to enemy intelligence services. Moreover, there is an added risk of financial and reputational damage if the data ends up in the hands of intruders.
It is also important to follow the rules for using unique passwords that are not related to the user’s identity like date of birth, address, pet name, etc.
It is best to generate a unique password for each individual service. You can do this with password managers like Google’s Password Manager and others.
It is n to enable two-factor authentication on all websites, messengers, and any banking services that contain personal data.
Another tip is to keep your software, especially your operating systems, up to date on a regular basis. Apple and Microsoft are serious about their users’ security and constantly release updates to their own anti-virus databases for iOS and Windows, along with fixes for system errors and security loopholes.
Another source of danger is social networks and messengers. Attackers often use them to obtain users’ personal information through links to phishing (fake) sites. The only way to protect yourself from this is to be careful and use reliable sources of information.
Business is a frequent target of Russian attacks
Hacker attacks have become commonplace not only for government agencies but also for many Ukrainian businesses. Today, FAVBET Tech pays special attention to cybersecurity.
“FAVBET Tech has a corporate culture and tools that we use to ensure a sufficient level of cybersecurity in our internal network,” says the CEO, “Like most large IT firms, we have a closed Internet channel available only to employees, a corporate VPN, corporate messengers, and exclusively licensed products from a leading software provider. The same applies to a powerful antivirus and a package of various services that ensure individual cybersecurity for each device within the network.”
The defense system at FAVBET Tech was built before the full-scale war. Since the beginning of the invasion, the protective perimeter has been revised and strengthened to take into account new potential threats. To do this, we analyzed many recent Russian cyberattacks and hacks, determined the possible level of risk for the business, and implemented appropriate safeguards.
The company pays a lot of attention to researching potential counterparties. Any trace of ties to Russia means an immediate termination of cooperation.
Companies seeking to strengthen their defense against cyberattacks should pay attention to developing clear cybersecurity procedures: “This applies to both code writing practices and information security, rules for storing and updating passwords, data backup procedures, and software usage policies. Anything that can be vulnerable should be potentially protected. Especially when it comes to the company’s intellectual property and financial assets.”
Security audits are indispensable in software development. It is better to have the relevant specialists in-house, but information security audits by certified organizations can be a good solution as well.
Artem Skrypnyk emphasizes that a great deal of responsibility remains with employees and their understanding of cybersecurity. Therefore, companies should also pay attention to training, as well as conduct seminars on cybersecurity trends in order to proactively respond to any new threats.
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