Cyberattacks Surge During the Holiday Season: Here’s Why

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For most people, the holiday season is the best time to reconnect with family, enjoy some well-deserved rest, and eat tasty homemade food, but for cybercriminals, it is the perfect time to strike.

In fact, research suggests that cyberattacks surge between Christmas and New Year’s, when both individuals and companies keep their guards down.

What Does Research Say?

In recent years, cybercriminals have relied on ransomware to attack their victims—this type of malware locks or encrypts files on a system until a ransom is submitted, thus maximizing the chances of generating revenue.

Researchers at the UK-based cybersecurity company Darktrace released a report in December 2021 showing that ransomware attacks increase globally during the holiday season.

Darktrace observed that there is a 30 percent increase in the average number of ransomware attacks over the holiday period compared to the monthly average.

The researchers also established a 70 percent average increase in attempted ransomware attacks in the months of November and December, compared to January and February.

Related: What Is Ransomware and How Can You Remove It?

It is no wonder then that governments across the world issue warnings at the end of the year, and urge businesses to stay vigilant.

As The Record reported, the German Federal Office for Information Security said in December 2021 that cybercriminals know companies are “less responsive” during the holiday season and therefore tend to strike at this time.

In the United States, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a similar warning in November 2021, advising all organizations, executives, and workers to proactively protect themselves from ransomware and other threats.

How Holidays Expose You to More Risk

It is not hard to see how the average person could fall for a phishing attack over the holidays; for example when they receive a “Merry Christmas” email or some sort of a seasonal discount offer.

But when a worker falls for such a scam, the whole company is jeopardized, especially if they execute the malware and allow it to spread through the company systems. In the event of a ransomware attack, this would lead to data being encrypted and held for ransom, which could cause millions in damages.



Santa Claus is seen on a computer screen

But it is not just the lack of vigilance on workers’ part that makes companies more vulnerable to cyberattacks over the festivities. IT and Security Operations teams are often short-staffed over Christmas and New Year’s, which makes organizations less prepared to handle cyberattacks if they occur.

In other words, a perfect storm of circumstances during this time of the year makes it much easier for malicious actors to strike and cause damage.

How to Protect Yourself This Holiday Season

It goes without saying that one should always keep best security practices in mind: never click on suspicious links, or download email attachments before checking the sender’s address and legitimacy.

But there is only so much individuals and employees can do, given how capable and sophisticated cybercriminals have become, so every organization should plan ahead and have a solid contingency plan in place.

It is imperative to keep all systems up to date and scan them for vulnerabilities regularly, but especially before the Christmas and New Year’s peak in cybercrime. At least several IT security employees should be available and on call at all times, including during the holidays.

Don’t Let Cybercriminals Ruin Your Holidays

Even if a company does everything by the book, a breach can still occur. Every business, regardless of its size, should have an incident response plan to help staff and IT professionals identify the breach early on and take steps to protect company systems.

For maximum safety, companies should invest in reliable backup solutions and take a decentralized approach to data security. We may take the holidays off, but cybercriminals do not.



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4 Ways to Decentralize Your Business Data 

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