March 22, 2022

FBI Phoenix

Brooke Brennan and Kevin Smith

FBI Tech Tuesday: World Events and Malicious Cyber Activity

PHOENIX, AZ—For this month’s Tech Tuesday, the FBI Phoenix Field Office wants to underscore the importance for private sector businesses and citizens to remain vigilant and be on the lookout for possible increases in malicious cyber activity.

The FBI, along with our federal partners, remains committed to investigating and combating any malicious cyber activity targeting the United States. The FBI has consistently disseminated public threat advisories warning about these activities conducted by Russian cyber actors. We continue to share information proactively with our private sector partners to identify targeting and prevent incidents. We encourage the public to report any suspicious cyber activity to www.ic3.gov.

Because the vast majority of the Internet’s infrastructure is in private hands, companies and the public are critical partners in disrupting cyber threats.

For the Public—Implement cybersecurity best practices including using strong passwords, multifactor authentication, patching, and updating software. We urge people to call us if they see something suspicious or experience issues and problems.

For the Private Sector—Among suggested actions for safety and security, company leaders are encouraged to ask cyber network defenders to review recent Cybersecurity Advisories (CSA) and continually review the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) alerts at https://www.cisa.gov/uscert/ncas/alerts. Know if your company has any connectivity in Russia and surrounding territories. Exercise cybersecurity incident response plans, and, if compromised, the FBI encourages reporting information promptly to the local FBI field office.

Rewards for Justice program—If anyone has information on state-sponsored Russian cyber operations targeting U.S. critical infrastructure, you are asked to contact the Department of State’s Rewards for Justice program. People may be eligible for a reward of up to $10 million, which the State Department is offering for information leading to the identification or location of any person who, while acting under the direction or control of a foreign government, participates in malicious cyber activity against U.S. critical infrastructure in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). Contact (202) 702-7843, on WhatsApp, Signal, or Telegram, or send information via the Rewards for Justice secure Tor-based tips line located on the Dark Web. For more details, refer to rewardsforjustice.net.