Tis the Season to Get Hacked: 5 Cybersecurity Tips for Businesses 

The festive season brings many gifts: tradition, feelings of joy, and cosy evenings by the fire. Unfortunately, for businesses (and shoppers alike), it also welcomes a 30% increase in cyber attacks, spurred on by the rise in online activity and relaxed office environments. 

Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas can be fortunate times for many businesses, but they can also harm companies with IT vulnerabilities. Much like protecting your home from wintery conditions, it’s also wise to proactively safeguard your business with robust IT security processes. 

Why Cybersecurity Risks Increase at Christmas

To help you get prepared, let’s first explore the main reasons why cybercriminals are extra active in the festive season:

Increased Online Activity and Transactions

More customers shopping online means more payment information and sensitive data being processed. Cybercriminals target this increased online activity to steal data and money.

Remote Work and Distracted Employees 

Employees working remotely may use less secure home networks and personal devices. Distractions from holiday planning and celebrations can also lead to security lapses from fraudulent emails, calls and texts.

Reduced Staff Levels and Closed Businesses 

Taking a ‘skeleton staff’ approach or having periods of temporary closure increases the risk of an undetected attack and slow incident management. 

Software and System Vulnerabilities

Businesses may delay software updates and patches during the busy festive season. Unpatched systems and applications provide easy entry points for attackers.

Common Cyber Attacks During the Festive Season

With 50% of UK businesses reporting being victims of a cyber security breach or attack between 2023 and 2024  – it’s critical to learn about the threats your business faces and how they could impact your operations, reputation, and financial performance:

Phishing Attacks

Phishing is the most prevalent cybercrime, with an estimated 3.4 billion spam emails sent daily. Phishing emails aim to trick recipients into revealing sensitive information like passwords or financial details by impersonating a legitimate and trusted source such as a known brand or utility company.

These emails often create a sense of urgency or fear, pushing the recipient to click on a harmful link, download a malicious attachment, or provide confidential data that cybercriminals can use for identity theft, financial fraud and further data breaches. 

Business Email Compromise

In BEC attacks, threat actors impersonate a trusted company contact to trick employees into making fraudulent bank transfers or revealing sensitive financial or customer data. It’s reported that 49% of all detected spam emails are linked to BEC scams.

BEC scams are a more targeted type of phishing attack, often sent to senior executives or budget holders. They spike during the holiday session (and end of year) when financial transactions are more frequent.

Ransomware

During an attack, cybercriminals deploy ransomware (malicious software) to encrypt business data or lock computer systems and demand payment for its release. As businesses become increasingly data-reliant, it’s not surprising that a recent report identified ransomware as a top threat across 92% of industries. 

Once activated, ransomware can quickly spread through an organisation’s network, potentially crippling business operations and forcing companies to either pay the ransom or lose their data entirely if they don’t have proper backups. Due to increased vulnerabilities, the holiday season is a prime time for ransomware attacks.

Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) 

Cybercriminals flood websites and online services with ‘fake traffic’ (often bots) to make them unavailable to legitimate users. DDOS attacks can disrupt critical business operations during the busy holiday shopping period. 

Hackers can use DDOS attacks to make a political statement or for more sinister purposes, such as distracting IT security teams from data breaches or ransomware deployment.  

Insider Threat

Disgruntled or careless employees may intentionally or inadvertently compromise company systems and data. With its increased remote work and distractions, the holiday season can amplify the risk of insider threats. 

The financial burden of Christmas can lead to employees stealing data, committing fraud, or engaging in other hostile activities. Costing UK businesses up to £3.9million per year, malicious insiders are a year-round threat that your IT security strategy must account for.

The Cost of Cybercrime to UK Businesses

The 2023 IBM Cost of Data Breach Report identified that UK organisations pay an average of £3.4m for data breach incidents, including initial detection, incident management, and post-breach recovery. Some industries experience even higher costs: financial services (£5.3 million), services (£5.2 million), and technology (£4.9 million). 

The financial cost is just one of the many risks your business faces. When a cyber-attack occurs, it can lead to many consequences:

Financial Loss

Direct costs from stolen funds, ransomware payments, system recovery, and potential fines for data breaches, plus lost revenue from business disruption.

Reputational Damage

Loss of customer trust and brand value, leading to decreased customer loyalty and potential loss of future business opportunities.

Operational Disruption

Systems and services become unavailable, halting business operations, affecting productivity, and potentially causing long-term disruption to supply chains.

Legal Consequences

Regulatory investigations, penalties for non-compliance with data protection laws and potential lawsuits from affected customers.

Data Losses

Theft or destruction of sensitive business data, customer information, and intellectual property, which may be irretrievable without proper backups.

Top 5 Cybersecurity Tips for Businesses at Christmas

1. Keep Software and Systems Up-to-Date

Maintaining current software is crucial for business security. Security patches should be installed immediately when released to protect against known vulnerabilities.

Setting up automatic updates for operating systems during off-peak hours ensures minimal disruption to business operations. Keeping anti-virus and firewall software current with the latest threat definitions is essential. 

Finally, maintaining an inventory of all business software and a clear shadow IT policy (IT assets used without company knowledge/control) helps ensure all systems are noticed in the update cycle.

2. Strengthen Access Controls

Strong access control starts with implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all business accounts and remote access. This should be paired with robust password policies that require minimum length, complexity, and regular changes.

Following the principle of least privilege means users should only have the minimum access needed to perform their job functions. Regular access rights reviews are essential, with prompt removal of permissions when employees change roles or leave the organisation.

3. Educate Employees on Cybersecurity Awareness

Employee education is critical for protecting your business against cyber threats – 68% of data breaches include a ‘non-malicious’ human element. Staff must be trained to identify suspicious emails, verify unusual requests, and follow secure password practices, including using a password manager. 

Remote workers need specific training on securing home networks and using VPNs safely. Regular simulated phishing tests and clear reporting procedures ensure employees stay vigilant and know how to respond when they spot potential threats.

Remember to also mitigate against security threats from third-party contractors. Every company you work with should meet your IT security standards. 

Read here about our essential Employee Cyber Security Training service. 

4. Backup Data Regularly

A comprehensive backup strategy should include daily incremental backups of all critical business data and weekly full system backups stored onsite and in secure offsite locations. 

Small businesses should prioritise backing up customer data, financial records, and key operational documents that would severely impact business continuity if lost.

Regular testing of backup restoration processes is crucial to verifying data integrity and ensuring recovery procedures work as expected. Setting up automated backup systems with encryption helps reduce human error and maintain consistent protection.

5. Monitor and Respond to Threats

We recommend deploying a Security Operations Centre (SOC) and Security Information and Event Management system (SIEM) to safeguard your business. These two cyber security tools work together to identify suspicious activity and protect your data and IT infrastructure. 

Monitoring network traffic, system logs, and user activities for suspicious behaviour allows IT Security teams to proactively identify potential compromises before they escalate into significant breaches. 

Rapid incident response also requires maintaining an updated inventory of all IT assets to quickly identify affected systems – 11% of global cyber incidents are attributed to the unauthorised use of shadow IT.

Another important factor is keeping and testing a documented incident response plan that clearly defines roles, responsibilities, and procedures for handling different types of security incidents. 

Key Cyber Security Takeaways 

Taking proactive cybersecurity measures to protect your business is vital in this digital age. Cybercrime is particularly prevalent in the lead-up to Christmas, but threats exist year-round to all industries and business sizes – with the cost of cyber crime expected to skyrocket over the next few years.

To be prepared, you must first be aware of your IT vulnerabilities and take action to implement systems, processes and procedures to safeguard your business.

Trust Dr Logic to Safeguard Your IT 

Without robust cyber security measures, your data, your client’s data and your business reputation are at risk. As cyber security experts, you can trust us to safeguard your business. 

Using our knowledge and expertise, we can build a cyber security package designed specifically for your business needs. You will get a fair price and invaluable peace of mind that your business is protected.

Our Cyber Security Services include:

• Endpoint Protection

• Employee Cyber Security Training 

• Cyber Essentials Compliance Support

• Email Security

• ISO 27001 Compliance Support 

To find out how Dr Logic can help keep your business safe, get in touch today for a free consultation.