The holiday season is here—a time for celebration, connection, and, of course, business growth! As shoppers flock online and workplaces get festive, it’s also the perfect moment to ensure your cybersecurity defences are as strong as ever. With 63% of holiday purchases in 2021 and 2022 made online—and even more expected this year—it’s no wonder cybercriminals get busy too. But don’t worry! By staying proactive, you can keep threats at bay – and not just for the holiday season!
To help, here are our twelve top tips to transform potential threats into opportunities for security, and strengthen your business all year round – remember, cybersecurity is for life, not just for Chritstmas!
1. Holiday phishing scams
Who doesn’t love a good holiday deal, a chance to save, or great opportunity – cybercriminals certainly do! These voracious villains are skilled at capitalising on holiday cheer, crafting deceptive emails that play on the goodwill that comes with Christmas. From fake gift card giveaways to phony charity appeals and urgent “last-minute deals,” these festive-themed scams are designed to look legitimate while concealing malicious intent.
According to the stats, holiday fraud cost the UK a whopping £12.3 million in a single year – but you can prevent your team from adding to that number, by giving them the gift of phishing awareness training. Teach them the tricks to spot seasonal scams, and pair this with slick advanced email filters to stop spam emails in their tracks: think of it as your businesses digital security sleigh.
2. Increased risk of fraud
Online shopping isn’t just super convenient for your customers – it is also potentially a playground for would-be cyber scammers! Techniques such as creating fake accounts, stealing payment details, or finding holes in your checkout system can cause havoc on unsuspecting shoppers – but Santa is giving you the tools to fight back, including investing in quality fraud detection tools, taking time to enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) for customer accounts, and regularly auditing payment gateways to remove potential vulnerabilities.
The right fraud prevention tools can act as your very own holiday elves, working tirelessly behind the scenes to keep everything running smoothly.
3. Compromised third-party vendors
Third party platforms have the potential to be very welcome guests, allowing you to take care of business essentials such as logistics, payment processing, and marketing. When they go wrong, however, the consequences can be serious – a single rogue snowflake can escalate into a snowball of drama, exposing your sensitive systems and customer data to potential exploitation. Even a minor vulnerability in a partner’s network can become a gateway for attackers, leaving your business to face the fallout.
The good news is that you can pick the providers who make your “Good” list through careful vetting and checks. When picking a potential partner, take time to assess their security protocols, ensure they meet industry standards, and confirm they adhere to your organisation’s security requirements. Establish clear contractual obligations around data protection and incident response, and consider ongoing audits or monitoring to ensure compliance doesn’t lapse over time. These simple steps will help you avoid those on the naughty list this year!
4. Ransomware surges
Ransomware is another risk that has the potential to cause chaos over the Chrstmas period – according to the experts, . 86% of organisations targeted by ransomware are likely to be hit on a weekend or holiday. Avoid cybercriminals dampening your festive spirit by implementing regular back-ups of data, segmenting networks to contain breaches, and asking for some advanced ransomware detection tools in your stocking this year to ensure you have all you need to emerge the hero!
5. Increase in remote working
Employees are more likely to be working remotely over the Christmas period, and while this is great for productivity and employee morale, it is also essential to ensure that employees are staying protected while enjoying their mulled wine. Potential hotspots here are the use of personal devices and public WiFi networks – so get ahead of the risks by equipping your staff with the cybersecurity equivalent of a Christmas jumper – a great VPN for protection, and updated firewalls and software to keep up with the latest trends.
6. Unpatched software and systems
Keeping systems updated is similar to sending Christmas cards to your far away great aunt – tricky to remember, but important for maintaining good connections. Unpatched vulnerabilities are directly responsible for over half of all data breaches, and the Christmas holidays mean that critical patches may be delayed, leaving systems vulnerable to exploitation, and updates may be delayed.
To keep systems up to date and protected, automate updates to run while everyone is enjoying their mince pies, and if needed, assign your own elves to oversee patch management while people are away.
7. Social engineering tactics
The season of giving can occasionally bring too much generosity – particularly when cybercriminals have an ever-growing wish list! From fake charity appeals designed to manipulate your emotions, to urgent requests for holiday bonuses, make sure that your Christmas spirit isn’t taken advantage of this season.
Employee training is the best gift you can give here – regularly educate your team on recognising social engineering attempts, and establish a simple protocol for handling unexpected or unusual requests, such as confirming requests through another line of communication, or reporting to your IT team before acting. Even Santa’s workshop has a chain of command!
8. Skeleton staff and IT teams
IT teams teams are often the unsung heroes of many businesses – but even they deserve a festive break! Research suggests a 30% increase in cyber attacks over the festive period, and at least part of this can be attributed to a lack of active monitoring – but this can be combatted by outsourcing cybersecurity monitoring or bringing in seasonal IT support to ensure quick, effective threat management during peak periods, and ensure that everyone has the break that they deserve.
9. Out of office alerts – a signal to cybercriminals!
Detailed out-of-office messages are great for keeping clients and colleagues up to date – but they can unintentionally tip off attackers about staff absences, creating opportunities to exploit security gaps – unless you are one step ahead.
Reduce the risk by using generic autoresponders that avoid sharing sensitive details like names, schedules, or extended leave dates, or by handing over access to an agreed colleague or IT support.
10. Fake holiday promotional offers
Fake holiday promotions are another growing problem for businesses, with cybercriminals setting up convincing scams that mimic legitimate business offers. These fraudulent campaigns can trick your customers, harm your reputation, and erode trust in your brand.
Use domain monitoring tools to quickly spot and address any fake websites impersonating your business. Make it easy for customers to identify genuine offers by providing clear guidance on your official website and social media channels. Simple steps, like highlighting the correct URLs and warning about common scams, can help protect your customers and safeguard your reputation.
11. Poor API Security
API’s are a must-have weapon in the toolkit of many a business, taking care of key tasks such as inventory management, payment processing and customer data integration – all of which contribute to making your business the best it can be. The Grinch does make an appearance, however – the UK has seen an 83% increase in security incidents involving API, and so you need to be on your guard.
Protect your APIs by implementing nutcracker- strong encryption, robust authentication protocols, and regular security testing to identify and address vulnerabilities; think of it as wrapping your APIs in robust, but appropriately festive, wrapping paper.
12. Increased risk of insider threats
Temporary staff and distracted employees can reveal their inner Scrooge by causing serious security breaches, especially during the busy festive season.
Take time to introduce strict access controls to ensure employees and temporary hires only have the permissions they need, and channel your ghost of cybersecurity yet-to-come by using monitoring tools to spot unusual activity, such as attempts to access restricted systems, helping to catch potential issues before they escalate.
Final thoughts
The holiday season should be about spreading joy and sparkle – and not dealing with the headache of cybersecurity issues. The good news is that the right tools, plenty of quality training, and just a sprinkle of Christmas spirit is all you need to stay safe, and protect your operations, data, and reputation, allowing you to kick back, relax and enjoy the season. Now, where did you leave that mince pie…?