For some people, the winter holidays are a time for disconnecting from the daily grind. Whether they’re celebrating with family and friends or spending a blissful few days alone, the last thing they want to think about is work. It’s time to activate “out of office” and forget about it all until the New Year. For others, the holidays are the busiest time at work. Orders are flooding in, everything’s urgent and nobody rests until it’s over. They can’t wait until January so they can finally take some time off.
Whether your offices are deserted or it’s all hands on deck, the Christmas and New Year period is the most dangerous in terms of cybersecurity. Here’s why.
Vigilance is key
Specialist software can do a lot to protect your business, but no security strategy is complete without simple human awareness. With common threats such as phishing, ransomware and man-in-the-middle attacks growing more sophisticated every day, it can sometimes be difficult to spot them.
If your team is rushed off their feet over the holidays, they may not always have the time and focus to keep an eye out for cybersecurity red flags. All it takes is for one person to click on a fake website or connect to a spoofed WiFi network, and your business’s data is potentially compromised. The risk climbs even higher when your staff use their work devices to catch up on Christmas shopping, laying themselves open to phishing scams promising big discounts and seasonal sales.
Regular updates are another thing that suffers when everyone just has too much on their plate. With cyberattacks at their peak during Christmas and New Year, it’s really crucial to install patches as they are issued. But pressure of work means that your team members are even more likely to click Remind me later when those annoying little notifications pop up. The same goes if they’ve been away for the holidays and return to a bunch of new emails, urgent tasks and outstanding updates. It’s just too tempting to put it all off.
Who’s watching?
Many businesses rely on their in-house IT department to keep software updated, provide training and stay ahead of emerging security threats. This can be a real boon to day-to-day working, providing your team with immediate personal support for any issues that might crop up.
However, it means that when the other members of your team are off-duty – or, alternatively, completely overwhelmed – the same probably goes for your IT specialists. There’s a real risk that your business will be left unguarded at the most dangerous time of year. In fact, the cybercriminals are counting on it!
The holidays bring extra risks, but you shouldn’t have to spend them worrying about cybersecurity. A reliable IT support partner will have your back 24/7, every single day of the year. At Perigon One, we provide affordable IT support solutions tailor-made for your business. If you’d like to find out more about our services, ask questions or just have an informal chat about your cybersecurity needs, don’t hesitate to get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.
