FBI Urges Immediate Implementation of 2FA to Combat Growing Threat of Sophisticated Attacks

As Google warns that cybercrime has reached the point where it should be treated as a national security concern, dangerous ransomware attacks continue apace, infostealers are increasingly deployed to grab your login credentials, and the cyber threat gets more sophisticated than ever thanks to AI, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has advised that everyone should set up two-factor authentication protection for all accounts that allow it. Here’s what you need to know and what the FBI advises you to do.

FBI Warns Action Needed To Protect Your Hard-Earned Money

The FBI has announced that Operation Level Up, a proactive initiative to identify and notify victims of cryptocurrency investment fraud, is proving to be very successful. A Feb. 25 posting from FBI Little Rock public affairs officer Jessica Franklin, acts as a warning regarding the particular problem of cryptocurrency investment fraud scams. The FBI has notified more than 4,000 victims across all 50 states and saved them an estimated $285 million in the process. “The FBI is committed to protecting citizens from cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes,” said FBI Criminal Investigative Division assistant director Chad Yarbrough; “Unfortunately, we continue to see these scams grow and evolve every day.” While the advice given regarding Operation Level Up is quite specific, aimed primarily around investment best practice in addition to lost fund recovery scams and the like, it’s the mitigation recommendations from the FBI as they relate to the broader threat landscape that I’m more concerned with here.

Set Up Two-Factor Authentication On All Accounts That Allow It, FBI Says

As I have previously warned, perhaps most notably in a report that went viral around the globe, cyber attacks are becoming ever-increasingly sophisticated thanks in no small part to the use of AI tools by the perpetrators. Preventing such attacks, the FBI said, “requires each user of a connected device to be aware and on guard.”

Here are five pieces of attack mitigation advice that the FBI warns you must follow to stay safe:

1. Keep systems and software up to date.
2. Create a strong and unique passphrase for each online account.
3. Set up two-factor authentication on all accounts that allow it.
4. Examine the email address in all correspondence and scrutinize website URLs before responding to a message or visiting a site.
5. Don’t click on anything in unsolicited emails or text messages.

“Whether through developing innovative investigative techniques, using cutting-edge analytic tools, or forging new partnerships in our communities,” the FBI said, “the FBI continues to adapt to meet the challenges posed by the evolving cyber threat.”