Cyber Attack Warnings Increase; AI Models at Risk: Sanctions Update
3/22/2022
The Biden White House warned U.S. companies to bolster cybersecurity defenses, based on new intelligence that the Russian Government is preparing for potential cyberattacks.
In a statement released Monday, President Biden said, "The Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has been actively working with organizations across critical infrastructure to rapidly share information and mitigation guidance to help protect their systems and networks. If you have not already done so, I urge our private sector partners to harden your cyber defenses immediately by implementing the best practices we have developed together over the last year."
During a press conference Monday, Anne Neuberger, U.S., deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology, would not identify specific industries possibly being targeted for cyber attacks. However, Neuberger did say “There is some preparatory activity that we’re seeing.”
The Wall Street Journal noted Tuesday that artificial-intelligence models, which handle everything from risk modeling to lending at financial institutions, are especially vulnerable to cyber attacks, writing “Unlike the efforts to gird systems against ransomware attacks, the protection of machine learning remains in its infancy, putting the institutions that use them at considerable risk.”
Meanwhile, Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, has warned customers to delay software updates after a “protestware” attack targeted Russian and Belarusian users, and threatened to delete their files.
Related sanctions news:
- Central Banks Face Tough Decisions After Russia’s Invasion. Not Everyone’s Sure They’ll Get it Right (CNBC)
- BNP Paribas Stops New Business in Russia, Joining European Peers (Bloomberg)
- SEB Bank Says Not Viable to Maintain Operations in Russia (Bloomberg)
- Sberbank’s Potential Fortenova Sale Gains Steam After Sanctions (Bloomberg)