October 31, 2024
8 Key Areas to Strengthen Your Security Posture
The holiday season brings joy and festivities but also an increase in cyber threats. As businesses wind down for the year, cybercriminals exploit the distractions and vulnerabilities that come with it. Now is an ideal time to review your cyber security strategy and budget for the next financial year.
Below, we highlight 8 critical areas where businesses are most vulnerable during the festive season and provide actionable steps to strengthen your defences.
Why Now?
With cyber-attacks continuing to rise in both volume and sophistication, taking proactive measures ahead of the holidays will help ensure your organisation is protected well into the new year.
1. Holiday Distractions Lead to Reduced Vigilance
Overview:
The festive season brings distractions as employees balance year-end tasks with holiday plans. This divided attention can lead to reduced security awareness, making it easier for cybercriminals to succeed.
The Challenge:
Recent studies from 1Password have shown that 45% of employees become distracted during the holiday season, making them more likely to fall for phishing scams or miss red flags in their inboxes.
Recommended Solutions:
- Security Awareness Training: Schedule seasonal phishing and social engineering training to reinforce employee vigilance.
- 24/7 Security Operations Center (SOC): Engage managed SOC services powered by Microsoft Sentinel, for continuous threat monitoring when internal teams may be less vigilant.
2. Increased Online Shopping Heightens Risk
Overview:
With holiday shopping moving primarily online, the volume of phishing scams, fake websites, and malicious ads spikes dramatically, creating additional risks for employees using work devices for personal shopping.
The Challenge:
Research published by Egress revealed a surge in phishing imitating major brands in the lead-up to Black Friday, with a 237% increase in phishing. This can result in malicious downloads or compromised credentials that affect your organisation’s network.
Recommended Solutions:
- Restrict Access: Limit non-work-related website access on company devices.
- Endpoint Protection: Deploy Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, which monitors and blocks risky behaviours, helping prevent malware from compromising your network.
3. Tempting Fake Offers and Scams
Overview:
During the holidays, employees are often drawn in by last-minute deals and holiday trip offers, which attackers use to trick them into clicking malicious links or sharing personal information.
The Challenge:
Cybercriminals often craft fake travel deals or limited-time offers to take advantage of employees’ urgency during this period (Source: Fortinet), figures from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) released victims lost on average £1,000 per person. Falling for these scams could lead to network breaches via compromised credentials.
Recommended Solutions:
- Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Enforce MFA across all company accounts to add a layer of security against unauthorised access.
- Email Security Filters: Utilise email filtering tools to block malicious emails before they reach employees.
4. Fake Charity Campaigns Exploiting Generosity
Overview:
The festive season is a time for giving, but it also presents opportunities for attackers to exploit the goodwill of employees through fake charity campaigns and donation sites.
The Challenge:
Cybercriminals mimic legitimate charity organisations to steal personal and financial information. These scams often come via email or social media, the UK Charity Cyber Threat Report 2023 from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said that £1.5million was lost to charity fraud.
Recommended Solutions:
- Educate Employees: Provide guidance on verifying legitimate charities.
- Financial Monitoring: Use tools like Microsoft Purview’s data loss prevention (DLP) to monitor and flag unusual financial transactions.
5. Understaffed Teams During Holiday Breaks
Overview:
With many employees on leave and rushing to complete year-end tasks—such as payroll processing and billing with vendors or suppliers—security teams are often stretched thin during the holiday season. This limited staffing can lead to delayed responses to potential threats, increasing vulnerability to attacks.
The Challenge:
Cybercriminals frequently target businesses during weekends and holidays when security coverage is limited. This can significantly delay detection and response to attacks. In 2022 Guardian Media Group confirmed their 20th December cyber attack left the staff locked out of its offices, print production, payroll and expenses systems.
Recommended Solutions:
- Outsource to a 24/7 SOC: Consider outsourcing to a SOC provider like CyberOne to ensure around-the-clock monitoring.
- Conduct a pre-holiday Cyber Security audit to identify vulnerabilities before the Christmas break.
6. Rise in Ransomware Attacks
Overview:
Ransomware attacks remain one of the most severe threats during the holiday season. Cybercriminals exploit the downtime to launch attacks that can cripple operations.
The Challenge:
According to data from Darktrace, ransomware attempts increase by up to 70% during the holiday months. These attacks often result in significant operational downtime and hefty ransom demands.
Recommended Solutions:
- Backup and Recovery Plan: Implement robust data backup and recovery strategies.
- Advanced Threat Detection: Use tools like Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, which detects and mitigates ransomware in real time, preventing attackers from causing extensive damage.
7. DDoS Attacks Disrupt Business During Peak Periods
Overview:
With many businesses experiencing higher-than-usual web traffic during the holiday season, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks can disrupt essential online services.
The Challenge:
Cybercriminals use DDoS attacks to overload business systems, leading to costly service outages during peak business times and Microsoft reported that it’s Azure’s robust security infrastructure automatically mitigated a peak of 3,500 attacks daily over the 2023 holiday period.
Recommended Solutions:
- Azure DDoS Protection: Microsoft’s Azure DDoS Protection scales with traffic volume and provides real-time mitigation, ensuring business continuity during peak periods.
8. Credential Theft and Social Engineering
Overview:
Social engineering tactics are increasingly used by attackers during the holidays, taking advantage of reduced vigilance to steal employee credentials.
The Challenge:
A rise in credential theft has been linked to social engineering attacks, where employees are tricked into revealing sensitive information.
Recommended Solutions:
- Enhanced Password Policies and MFA: Strengthen password policies and enforce MFA to protect against unauthorized access.
- Continuous Security Posture Assessment: Regularly review and improve your Microsoft Secure Score to assess and close security gaps, boosting your overall cyber resilience.
Get a Free 30-Minute Cyber Security Consultation
As the holiday season approaches, it’s more important than ever to ensure your organisation is well-prepared. Schedule a free 30-minute consultation with our cyber security experts to review your current security measures and explore how you can better protect your business going into the new year.