Why Hackers love Holidays!
Most people take a long-awaited chance to rest and relax during the holiday season. But cybercriminals and hackers see a huge opportunity to launch attacks. Why you ask?
Here are the top 3 reasons why cybercriminals love the holiday season.
1. People are Distracted
You know that with all the holiday activities and events that employees are more distracted then ever, they don’t pay as close attention and that is the best time for a hacker to hit.
2. More email
You’re doing your online shopping and shipping and talking to more people about events than most other times of the year. You may use shipping companies you don’t usually, and you may be discussing events with people you do not normally work with. All making easier entry for cybercrime especially through social engineering.
3. Key Employees on vacation
Your IT staff may take time off before the holidays as they know that during the holidays is the best time to take networks down, do updates, load software, etcetera. As they take their time off there may be gaps in the people managing and monitoring your security, especially if that is handled in-house.
So what should you do to prepare?
- Make sure your employees don’t slack off on Cyber Training. The biggest hole in any companies’ security is its employees so properly training them is your best source of protection.
- Review your Security Stack with your IT department or outsourced IT, before they go on vacation, to make sure you don’t have any known holes in your Cyber Security
- Make sure you have key personal or third-party IT that is monitoring your network for any issues throughout the holiday season. A missed alert or patch can cause a lot of headaches.
Once you have these covered, have a wonderful Holiday Season and get that rest, relaxation and time with family and friends that you deserve!
As always if AcaciaIT can be of any assistance or you have any questions, please contact us at 520-751-0888 or services@acaciait.com
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Greg Durnan is the Owner/President of AcaciaIT and very active in the business community of Southern Arizona. One of the founding members of the Greater Vail Area Chamber of Commerce and Chairman of the Oro Valley Chamber of Commerce. He is very passionate about the needs of businesses in Arizona. He also strives to educate clients on Computer and Network Security through Lunch and Learns, articles, and webinars.
On the weekends he enjoys spending time with his wife and son at their ranch in Vail and working with horses.