The holidays are often when people spend big on gifts and self-improvement to meet New Year’s resolutions. The bad news is that cybercriminals know this too and step up their cyberattack efforts to take advantage of all the extra money flying around the internet.
For businesses, the holidays come with some unique threats that could do serious damage to your systems, your customers, and your reputation. Here are some of the most common cyberthreats during the holidays and how you can keep your business safe from them.
Holiday phishing emails
Phishing emails are an ever-present online threat, but they pick up around the holidays because more people are checking their email and sending messages. You might be sending more purchase orders or connecting with partners to wrap up the year’s business. Or you (and your workforce) may be sending personal emails like season’s greetings or receiving receipts and special offers from online retailers.
With your inboxes being inundated with emails and workforces stretched thin due to the holiday rush, it’s much easier to be caught off guard and miss the obvious signs of phishing emails.
Cybercriminals know this, and send loads of phishing emails posing as acquaintances or other businesses. They might claim there is a problem with a gift purchase or that they are trying to send you something. They will then ask for credit card or other details to steal your data, or attempt to get you to download malware.
How to avoid holiday phishing
Educate your workforce on how to spot phishing emails and do a refresher course on how to respond to them. Make sure your employees are always on the lookout for telltale phishing signs, which include:
- Strange sender domains
- Spelling and grammar mistakes
- Strange attachments
- Unfamiliar or disguised (shortened) links
- Exaggerated attention-grabbing language to manufacture a sense of urgency
Holiday ransomware attacks
Ransomware attacks also see heightened rates of success during the holidays, so cybercriminals ramp up these attacks as well. Ransomware gets in through malicious emails or employees downloading things they should not. It locks access to your vital data and prevents access until you pay a ransom, often in cryptocurrency.
Businesses like yours have important business to wrap up and are focused on getting in the black before the end of the year, so they are much more inclined to pay a ransom to get back access to their data.
How to prevent holiday ransomware?
Employee education and security training is the most cost-effective way to prevent ransomware. If your staff can spot and report suspicious emails or download links, ransomware will have a hard time getting into your systems in the first place.
However, there’s always a chance an attack can slip in, so it pays to have robust data backup systems in place. If ransomware locks down your vital data on local servers, a cloud backup can be restored quickly, and you can get back to work as though nothing happened. Automated data backups can ensure that your backups are constant and current so that you don’t lose critical data.
Holiday scam calls
Much like holiday phishing emails, scam calls around the holidays increase due to a lack of vigilance and a high volume of communications. Maybe you don’t have enough people working the phones, or the people you do are just overwhelmed with calls. Either way, it’s easier for scammers posing as customers, business partners, or service providers to trick employees into giving away confidential information this time of year.
How to avoid holiday scam calls
The pattern here is the same: security consultants training your employees to notice and stop scam calls from harming your business will have the biggest impact on your security. Technology can also provide a safeguard that protects against inevitable human error.
Consider a VoIP system with integrated cybersecurity that can better track caller information. The system can automatically store caller data and bring it up when they call again so your employee knows exactly who is calling and what interactions they have had in the past. It will also alert your staff to suspicious callers.
If you want to beef up your business’s cybersecurity posture, contact TEKZYS. Our experienced security consultants will create a customized plan to keep your business safe all year round.