While businesses are decking the halls and wrapping up end-of-year projects, cybercriminals are making their own holiday lists – and your organization’s data could be on them. A recent study found that 86% of ransomware attacks take place around a holiday or weekend. At the same time, 90% of U.S. businesses reduce their security staff during these times as employees take vacations and enjoy PTO. This reduction in security personnel combined with the flurry of increased digital transactions, remote work, and employees rushing to meet year-end deadlines makes December particularly attractive to threat actors.
Here’s how your organization can stay protected against escalating cyber threats during this time of year.
Why December is the Most Wonderful Time of Year for Cybercriminals
The holiday rush creates unique cybersecurity challenges across every sector, from retail to supply chain management. During December, organizations face a surge in digital activities as employees balance end-of-year tasks with holiday preparations. Team members may work remotely while traveling, increasing the likelihood of connecting through unsecured networks to access critical systems.
Adding to this complexity, seasonal staff members may need temporary access to various platforms and systems, creating additional access points that require careful management. Even your most security-conscious employees may let their guard down amid holiday stress and rushed deadlines.
Here are some of the most common holiday cyber threats to watch for:
- Holiday-Themed Phishing Scams: Cybercriminals may craft sophisticated emails disguised as shipping notifications, order confirmations, or holiday deals. AI-generated content makes these emails particularly convincing and dangerous during the hectic holiday season.
- Seasonal Ransomware Campaigns: Threat actors strategically time ransomware attacks during holidays when businesses are most vulnerable. These attacks often target companies operating with reduced staff and IT support.
- Credential Theft Through Shopping Scams: Fake retail websites and malicious holiday shopping apps target shoppers during the holiday season. If your employees access them from a work device, threat actors may be able to harvest login credentials.
- Social Engineering Holiday Cons: Bad actors exploit holiday generosity through fake charity scams and fraudulent giving campaigns. These attacks use emotional manipulation to convince users to take risks they wouldn’t normally take.
- System Exploitation During Low-Staff Periods: Cybercriminals take advantage of reduced staffing to probe for vulnerabilities and execute attacks during the holidays when security monitoring may be less rigorous.
Protect Your Organization from Holiday Cyber Risks
As cyber threats ramp up during the holiday season, so should your security posture. By ramping up your security protocols and implementing the right tools, you can keep your organization secure without slowing down holiday business operations. Let’s look at two critical ways to accomplish that goal:
Strengthen Access Controls
During the holiday season, strong access controls are more important than ever. Privileged access management (PAM) keeps cyber criminals out with:
- Least privilege principles– Least privilege ensures that employees can access only what they need, when they need it for their specific roles. PAM automates least privilege principles by removing local admin rights and providing just-in-time access without slowing users down during the holiday rush.
- Remote privilege management – A PAM solution like AutoElevate by CyberFOX allows IT teams to respond to access requests and security events from their mobile devices. This makes it easier to manage remote access and prevent bottlenecks.
- Role-based access – Role-based access makes onboarding seasonal staff with safe access protocols easier. Access can be granted and removed as needed without lengthy wait times.
Enhance Password Security
Strong password management becomes critical when managing an influx of seasonal workers and remote access requests. A password security manager protects your system by:
- Implementing two-factor authentication – Two-factor authentication makes it easier to protect your system from credential theft, especially when users are accessing systems remotely.
- Enabling secure password sharing – Secure password sharing prevents employees from sharing access to sensitive systems with unauthorized users (such as temporary staff).
- Managing temporary credentials – Role-based access policies make it easy to manage credentials for temporary workers while maintaining strict security standards.
In addition to these strategies, employees may need additional training to recognize risks like fraudulent charity requests, social engineering, and holiday shopping scams.
Stay Secure This Holiday Season with CyberFOX
Cybercriminals may view the holiday season as easy pickings, but you don’t have to be a victim. Protect your systems with privileged access management and password security solutions, and give your organization the gift of enjoying the holiday season without worrying about cyber threats.
Ready to strengthen your security strategy? Contact us today to schedule a demo!