TAMPA, Fla. — Cybersecurity experts are urging people to stay vigilant digitally as Russian forces close in on Ukraine.
The war on Ukraine could worsen the threat of consequences for the U.S., especially with sanctions and involvement from allies.
Already, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a "Shields Up" alert well ahead of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 23, warning IT departments everywhere to monitor for suspicious activity that could disrupt their business or government operations.
CISA stated ahead of the invasion, wiper malwares were done to destroy computer systems and render them inoperable by deleting data.
Some of the worst-case scenarios would be an interruption on large institutions Americans depend on including banking or healthcare systems.
While cyber safety concerns are out of one's control, there are also ways to avoid falling for schemes through emotional manipulation, said Zachary Eikenberry, Lakeland-based Hook Security CEO and co-founder.
For instance, amid the crisis, watch out for more fake organizations posing as charities or nonprofits that claim to help the people of Ukraine. Already, Eikenberry said his company has seen a tremendous spike in scams through that form.
"Everybody wants to help. That's one of the best things about humanity," Eikenberry said. "Unfortunately, the cybercriminals know that and they're using that against people."
Eikenberry said that often comes in the form of phishing emails, fake emails from unknown senders. Other times, through social media messages from people claiming to share a mutual friend.
"Sometimes that is even the force of actual state-sponsored disinformation and propaganda," Eikenberry said.
But once cybercriminals get access to your system or obtain your information, Eikenberry said they may not act right away. Sometimes, for as long as five years.
"Watching your emails, watching your communication, backing up data and storing it somewhere else, so that they have duplicates of your entire company," Eikenberry said.
While cyber security threats, known to be perpetrated by Russia have long been a threat, Eikenberry said its recent attacks on Ukraine may be shedding more light on the issue.
Already, corporations, big and small, are having to keep up and continuously invest in security, he said.
Eikenberry predicts it's now a race of producing the most secure ecosystem when it comes to protecting our information and data.
"That is a new normal for us for the foreseeable future. Perhaps, generations to come," Eikenberry said.
CBS News reported the Kremlin's relentless hacker army has remained quiet since the invasion, but don't expect Russian restraint to last, said Chris Krebs, partner at the Krebs Stamos Group and former head of CISA.
"We are in uncharted territories. This is not a business-as-usual situation. I'm not sure that there are many companies that have well-developed playbooks for an event of such geopolitical gravity as we're seeing right now," Krebs said on CBS MoneyWatch.