In light of escalating global conflicts, increased nation-state activity, and widespread geopolitical instability, cybersecurity threats have intensified across many different sectors. All organizations should be proactively strengthening awareness and readiness to defend against targeted and opportunistic attacks. For CyberOne as your partner, we understand what technologies and processes our customers have and communicate with them where they can increase their maturity and reduce risk when notable events occur. (i.e. geopolitical, Log4j, etc.)
Currently, CyberOne sees a need for organizations to review their ability to identify and respond to potential attacks (i.e. MDR) and increase security awareness within their organization. A review of their BCP or IR plan is also suggested which would include a recent tabletop to validate employee’s understanding and ability to respond to an event.
As part of this approach, we help assess readiness, align tools and controls to emerging risks, and guide organizations in executing key improvements across people, processes, and platforms.
Here are priority areas for heightened security awareness:
Nation-State & Geopolitical Threats
State-sponsored actors are actively targeting energy, manufacturing, healthcare, and defense sectors.
Action: Train employees to recognize spear phishing, foreign pretexting, and suspicious outreach related to political or military themes. We can design and deliver tailored training campaigns that simulate geopolitical lures and test user responses. Our simulations help staff recognize nuanced threats while providing measurable data on engagement and improvement.
Third-Party & Supply Chain Risk
Foreign and compromised vendors present hidden vulnerabilities (e.g., tampered software updates).
Action: Vet third-party security rigorously; ensure contract clauses include breach notification, controls, and right-to-audit provisions. CyberOne evaluates vendor risk frameworks, establishes tiered assessments, and configures continuous monitoring to catch abnormal behaviors early.
Phishing & Social Engineering Escalation
Hackers are using global news and humanitarian themes as bait for credential theft and malware delivery.
Action: Reinforce MFA, train users to spot email and phone-based social engineering, and report suspicious communications. We implement advanced email threat protection, configure conditional access in Microsoft environments, and run frequent phishing simulations to build real-world resilience.
Business Email Compromise (BEC) & Financial Fraud
Criminal groups are exploiting distracted finance teams and remote workflows.
Action: Enforce call-back verification for payment changes and educate AP staff on spoofing techniques. We will work with finance and IT teams to create BEC-specific tabletop scenarios, enforce dual-authorization workflows, and deploy fraud detection rules across messaging systems.
Cloud & Remote Access Exploits
Attackers are targeting VPNs, cloud file-sharing, and SaaS identity systems.
Action: Educate on session hijacking, monitor anomalous access, and require strong authentication for all remote users. CyberOne can secure cloud environments with role-based access control, integrate unified identity platforms, and monitor user behavior across cloud apps and remote endpoints.
Insider Risk & Misinformation
Insider threats may rise in volatile political environments or due to misinformation campaigns.
Action: Encourage staff to report unusual behavior, and monitor for inappropriate data access or social media amplification of false narratives. Our advisory team builds custom insider risk programs leveraging DLP, UEBA, and training content that reflects the geopolitical and cultural nuances relevant to each client.
Additional actions:
- Ensure cyber response is integrated into business continuity and geopolitical contingency plans. We’ll help you update your BCPs and IRPs to include geopolitical escalation triggers, asset prioritization, and communications alignment.
- Focus messaging on real-world, current threats to increase employee engagement.
- Include geopolitical cyber threats in regular board-level risk reviews. We support CISOs in structuring board briefings with geopolitical threat context, maturity scoring, and risk-adjusted investment recommendations.
Looking to align your team, tools, and processes with today’s global threat landscape? Talk to us, we’ll help you prepare before the next wave hits.