Cybersecurity Alert - February 15, 2022

The Cyber and Analytics Unit (CAU) within FINRA’s National Cause and Financial Crimes Detection (NCFC) program would like to bring an important cyber-related development to your attention.  The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the FBI issued a “Shields Up” warning this week regarding potential Russian cyberattacks to target U.S. organizations related to Russia’s potential destabilizing actions against Ukraine. CISA advised that while there are not currently any specific credible threats to the U.S., they recommend  that all organizations, namely U.S. critical infrastructure including the financial service industry, adopt a heightened posture related to cybersecurity. CISA recommends specific actions (see cisa.gov/shields-up) that will:

• Reduce the likelihood of a damaging cyber intrusion,
• Quickly detect a potential intrusion,
• Ensure the organization is prepared to respond if an intrusion occurs, and
• Maximize the organization’s resilience to a cyber incident.

Implementing the recommended steps will assist your firm in protecting its critical assets including  confidential customer and firm information. 

If you have questions, please contact your assigned Risk Monitoring Analyst or NCFC’s Cyber Security Group (CSG) via email.