PEORIA, Ill. – It’s something involving Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that won’t affect you now, but it could sometime in the near future.
The infamous cyber group “Anonymous” has, of late, declared a “cyber war” on Russia, and Pearl Technologies president Dave Johnson says Anonymous has done hacking to Russia, that Russia has done to Ukraine.
“Anonymous took down the Ministry of Defense in Russia,” said Johnson. “They took over some media outlets and played the Ukranian national anthem. Most recently, they hacked into the train system in Belarus, which has been carrying Russian soldiers into Ukraine.”
Johnson says while Anonymous has been pro-Ukraine in its cyber attacks so far, that doesn’t mean one side or the other couldn’t just stop and focus hacking on the U.S. at some point.
“Russia certainly will, at some point, to some degree,” said Johnson. “I think Anonymous has drawn a line and said, ‘Look, we’re on the side of NATO and the United States, and that’s why we’re attacking Russia.’”
That means computer and tech users here need to start taking steps now to protect their systems, especially one group in particular.
“Especially if you are a remote worker, and your laptop at home is connected to your corporation, the easy way into the corporation is to come through a remote worker,” said Johnson.
Johnson says that’s a reminder for everyone — not just remote workers — to not just make sure your anti-virus software is up to date, but to make passwords more and more difficult, and to make sure you use things like two-factor authentication in your social media.
More tips and our full conversation with Dave Johnson is below.
