The holiday season is a time for family gatherings and too many mince pies. However, for many small businesses, it can also be a time of increased IT vulnerabilities. With reduced staffing, distractions, deadlines, and a focus on year-end sales, critical updates and patches often fall through the cracks. This oversight can leave your business exposed to cyber threats at a time when attackers are more active than ever.
During the Christmas and New Year period, many businesses operate with a skeleton crew increasing pressures. The IT person might be on leave or wrapping their projects up for the year leaving fewer people available to monitor systems and applications, and apply critical updates. At the same time, retail and service-based businesses often prioritise customer-facing operations during the holiday rush, side-lining maintenance tasks. Cybercriminals take advantage of this vulnerability, with phishing scams, gift card scams, ransomware, and other cyberattacks frequently spiking during this period. Moreover, IT updates and patches are frequently postponed to avoid disrupting holiday operations, inadvertently creating a window of opportunity for attackers.
As we are heading back full swing into normal working its imperative to get caught up on your security and patch schedules. Ensure its a priority early January to get any tasks which were skipped done.
Training your team is another crucial step. Conduct cybersecurity awareness sessions and provide clear instructions on what to do if suspicious activity is noticed. Complement this training with reliable monitoring tools to identify and respond to threats in real-time.
Regularly backing up all important data and storing it securely offsite or in the cloud is vital. Testing your backup recovery process ensures your business can quickly recover in case of an incident. Additionally, reviewing access controls and limiting access to sensitive systems and data to essential personnel only can further reduce risk.
Remember, cybercriminals don’t take holidays. Staying vigilant and proactive ensures your business remains secure during the festive season.
👉 Contact Us if you need help getting back into your secure place . Let’s work together to keep your business safe and resilient.