Following an insolvency scare that prompted a run by depositors, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was shuttered by US regulators. Shortly after, regulators seized Signature Bank—representing the third largest bank failure in U.S. history. These bank failures will have a significant impact on their customers—with many tech start-ups and small businesses facing financial instability and layoffs as they seek alternative funding. Unfortunately, there is much more at risk. These disruptive situations create tremendous opportunities for cybercriminals.

“The search for financial stability has made the depositors, as well as their customers and vendors a prime target for threat actors looking for sensitive data and information,” says Bob Keegan, Senior Vice President of Tandym Tech. “This specific situation involves a lot of money, urgency, and uncertainty. Financially motivated threat actors will take advantage of the fear and sensitivity surrounding these events.”

As a result, companies and individuals must understand their current risk and remain vigilant to protect themselves against these new cybersecurity threats. Continue reading to learn more about the new wave of cybercrime and how you can minimize your risk.

What you can expect

Generally, threat actors are likely to execute SVB or Signature Bank-themed social engineering attacks. They’ll focus on phishing scams, business email compromise attacks, and malware lures. In fact, Cyber Research & Intelligence Labs (CRIL) has already identified several suspicious domains. Similarly, several new domains for known SVB competitors have popped up.

“There is a significant number of account changes underway,” says Bob. “Attackers will be impersonating vendors using these new domains to collect sensitive information or manipulate victims into sending funds to actor-controlled accounts. These attacks can have severe ramifications on an individual and at the company-wide level.”

How to protect your company against cybersecurity threats

These cybersecurity risks are unfortunately all too common surrounding newsworthy events. As a result, you may find yourself concerned about your level of risk in the wake of these bank failures. To help protect your data, there are a few immediate steps you can take.

1. Bring in a high-level cybersecurity consultant: If it has been some time since you evaluated your risk, your first step should be to bring in an expert to assess your environment. This individual will look at your company from every level, including your computer systems, network, and software, and propose / design the best solutions to protect you from vulnerabilities. If this is your first time engaging a security consultant, you should look out for a senior-level cybersecurity engineer. This professional should have experience in cloud security, phishing and hacking, and infrastructure / networking.
2. Invest in your security team: Now is a great time to ensure your security team has adequate resources and the proper headcount to proactively manage and address your risk. To do this, here are some key roles to hire for—either on a contract or full-time basis:

• • Penetration Tester or Ethical Hacker: These employees will perform simulated cyberattacks on your computer systems and networks to find flaws and weaknesses in your environment.
  • Security Engineer or Cloud Engineer: Firewall software is changing so rapidly with the occurrence of new threats. It is the responsibility of these engineers to design, build, and manage the security infrastructure of IT systems.

Concerned about cybersecurity threats or need help building your security team? Contact us today!

Job opportunities in cybersecurity

The demand for security professionals will continue to soar, even faster than companies can hire. The number of unfilled cybersecurity jobs grew by over 26% from 2021. Today there are 3.4 million open jobs. If you are a tech professional, now is a great time to break into or land a new job in cybersecurity! Due to the fact that data protection is a critical business function and market fluctuations can often trigger bad actors, this is even true in times of economic uncertainty. Read also: Is A Job In Cybersecurity Your Next Move? Read These FAQs

Looking for a new job in cybersecurity? Check out our open jobs!