As Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, U.S. wealth management firms are vulnerable to cyberattacks emanating from Russia’s operatives, regulators are warning.
Even U.S. broker-dealers and registered investment advisory firms may be prime targets of the type of cyberattacks Russian operators have used to cripple Ukraine’s banking and government websites, the Department of Homeland Security said this week.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Securities and Exchange Commission followed suit with notices asking firms to be on high alert for cyberattacks.
While there are no specific or credible threats to U.S. firms, authorities here are concerned that securities firms are prone to the same type of cyberattacks they say hobbled Ukraine’s banks and government websites on February 15 and 16.
Within two days of the attacks, U.S. agencies named spies from Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate as the culprits.
Now regulators are asking wealth management firms to take precautions so that similar attacks don’t harm the securities industry here.
“Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine, which has involved cyberattacks on Ukrainian government and critical infrastructure organizations, may impact organizations both within and beyond the region, particularly in the wake of sanctions imposed by the United States and our allies,” said the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, a unit of the Department of Homeland Security, on its “Shields Up” web page (cisa.gov).
“Every organization—large and small—must be prepared to respond to disruptive cyber activity,” the cybersecurity agency said.
The Cyber and Analytics Unit within Finra’s National Cause and Financial Crimes Detection program flagged both the FBI and “Shields Up” warnings about potential Russian cyberattacks targeting U.S. organizations—which they said are related to Russia’s destabilizing actions against Ukraine.
While smaller advisory firms may think they’re not worth Russian hackers’ time, they’re actually fair game. In fact, small businesses represent the majority of cybercriminal targets, according to Homeland Security.