Hey, what’s happening? It’s Jeremy from Ochsner Insurance, and welcome to Cyber Monday. Today, we’re talking about a recent cyber event that has been making waves: the attack on Snowflake’s customers.
The Attack on Snowflake’s Customers
Over the past week, there have been numerous reports about an attack involving Snowflake’s customers, a cloud system used by various industries to store data. According to an article (credited below), Mandiant has been investigating this breach and found that it is isolated to customers of Snowflake who did not have multi-factor authentication (MFA) set up on their logins. This lack of MFA allowed bad actors to steal data.
It’s important to note that Snowflake’s systems themselves were not breached. Instead, the breach occurred because some customers did not configure their accounts with MFA, which led to malware being installed and data being stolen.
Why Multi-Factor Authentication Matters
MFA is crucial for protecting your systems. In fact, many cyber insurance policies require it. Without MFA, your insurance premiums could increase significantly. Microsoft and other experts claim that 99% of attacks can be avoided with MFA. While the exact percentage might vary, it’s clear that MFA adds an extra layer of security.
Even if MFA isn’t foolproof, it adds a significant hurdle for attackers. According to some experts, it takes a bad actor 12 more minutes to attack an MFA-enabled system compared to one that is not. Those extra minutes could be the difference between a breach and a thwarted attempt.
Assessing Your Cybersecurity
At Ochsner Insurance, we offer a cyber threat assessment that includes several key questions about your cybersecurity setup:
- Do you have MFA in place for remote access, email access, and network admins and other privileged users?
- Are you utilizing endpoint detection and response (EDR)?
- Do you have reliable backups and a tested business continuity plan?
These are essential components of a robust cybersecurity strategy. Ensuring that your backups are functional and regularly tested is critical. A business continuity plan will help you respond effectively if malware is detected or if you’re locked out due to a ransom demand.
Take the Free Threat Assessment by clicking here.
Additional Cybersecurity Measures
Working with your managed services provider (MSP) or internal IT team (or both) is vital to handle these aspects. Implementing an email filtering tool is another effective measure to mitigate attacks.
Learn more about Essential Cybersecurity tips for medical professionals and beyond.
Conclusion
To keep your business safe from cyber threats, focus on these key areas:
- Implement Multi-Factor Authentication: Protect all access points with MFA.
- Develop a Business Continuity Plan: Ensure you have a plan for when things go wrong.
- Secure a Broad Form Cyber Insurance Policy: Protect your business financially against cyber threats.
Be proactive in your cybersecurity efforts. Work closely with your cybersecurity team, test your backups, and make sure your insurance coverage is comprehensive.
Thank you for watching Cyber Monday. This is Jeremy from Ochsner Insurance, and here’s to your success and cybersecurity.
Credits: [Link to the article]