The Dark Threat Of Cyber Warfare And How This Cybersecurity Company Aims To Be Part Of The Solution

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On March 16, 2022, a national news broadcast on the television channel Ukraine 24 was breached by hackers, displaying messages that appeared as though they were coming from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It urged Ukrainians to stop fighting and give up their weapons, while claiming that Zelenskyy had fled Kyiv.

In the past, the principal domains of warfare were land and sea, where the protagonists would have some kind of early warning that an attack was in the making before it actually took place. 

But today, cyber warfare is emerging as another domain and has become an important instrument in the global military arsenal. Cyber warfare accords a mechanism to destroy, disrupt or confuse enemy sensors, communications and decision-making machinery - often targeting a country’s critical infrastructure.

Cyber Attacks Are On The Rise, Globally

Proceeding the current situation in Ukraine, numerous high-profile cyberattacks in recent years have resulted in sensitive data being exposed. For example, the 2017 Equifax Inc. EFX breach compromised the personal data of roughly 143 million consumers, including birthdates, addresses and Social Security numbers. In 2018, hackers attacked Marriott International Inc. MAR, accessed its servers and stole the data of roughly 500 million customers. 

Several research papers have remarked that cyberattacks are expected to cost businesses and organizations $8 trillion by 2022, up from the $6 trillion projected for 2021.

The threat of the highest concern across the government sector is cited as ransomware, especially against critical infrastructure. Ransomware is a type of malicious software that threatens to publish erroneous data or blocks access to data or a computer system until the victim pays a ransom fee to the attacker. 

Data Security Repercussions Of The Russia-Ukraine Conflict

As Russia expands its assault on Ukraine, governments across the world are on high alert regarding Russia’s movements across the military, cybersecurity and information domains.

Several technology and cybersecurity companies including Microsoft Corp. MSFT, SentinelOne Inc. S and Crowdstrike Holdings Inc. CRWD have come forward to help protect Ukrainian systems and offer free cybersecurity tools and services to organizations who believe they may be targeted by cyberattacks from Russian-state hackers.

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has issued official warnings to help stakeholders, including critical U.S. infrastructure sectors such as food, agriculture, electric, water and wastewater systems, to guard against the ever-evolving ransomware threat environment. As part of CISA’s Shields Up program these alerts are geared toward system administrators and other technical staff to bolster their organization's security posture. 

The White House Administration issued warnings at the end of March, based on intelligence gathered, advising companies to immediately harden defenses against potential Russian cyberattacks.

Providing A Key To The Solution?

Cybersecurity companies such as BIO-key International Inc. BKYI, which is in the business of providing Identity and Access Management (IAM) and biometric identity solutions, called Identity-Bound Biometrics (IBB), have reported helping companies reduce cyber risk by providing front-line defenses. 

BIO-key says its IAM solutions and award-winning platform PortalGuard® provide simple solutions to secure the modern digital experience with options for single sign-on, self-service password reset and multi-factor authentication methods. Multi-factor authentication is noted to be able to prevent cyberattacks such as ransomware by up to 90% and is at the top of CISA’s list of recommendations for blocking Russian-based threats. 

BIO-key also states that its IBB technology uses a biometric form factor such as a fingerprint or palm scan to verify that a user is an authorized individual behind a data inquiry, transaction or access request. This process eliminates the risks associated with the use of a password, pin code, token or other factors that can be compromised or shared among users.

BIO-key reports that it has a proven track record of successful IAM project delivery and strong customer relationships in critical industries including supporting government organizations who provide critical infrastructure for countries across the globe. 

The company believes that its unique value proposition makes it a preferred choice for helping government agencies and enterprises stay safe and secure.

To learn more about BIO-key, visit https://www.bio-key.com/ 

This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be investing advice.

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