Security threats are everywhere these days, and the hackers and scammers choose their moment. It turns out that they step up their criminal activities over long weekends and holidays, when many companies either aren’t working or have reduced operating hours. This is a clear and worrying trend and the FBI and CISA have issued an advisory to alert organizations to the threat of cybercrime.
The Holiday Problem
In September, the FBI and CISA warning urged companies to take extra precautions around the time of the Labor Day weekend break. The logic that the cybercriminals use seems fairly obvious. A lot of people, including the IT staff who monitor and detect suspicious activity on a network might be on a break or will respond to problems more slowly than usual. It’s not just three-day weekends that seem to trigger the hackers though. Any holiday weekend seems to spur them into action.
According to the advisory, ransomware attacks are something to be especially concerned about. This is in line with recent figures on cybercrime. Based on attacks during the previous year, there’s a clear trend for them to occur on weekends. The Colonial Pipeline attack happened on the Mother’s Day weekend and it was Memorial Day weekend when the attack on JBS occurred. July 4th was the date when a major ransomware attack was launched against Kaseya.
It can’t all be coincidence and it seems clear that the attacks are designed to take place when operations are shut, staff are away and vigilance is lower. When we’re enjoying some well-deserved time off, the hackers sense opportunities – and they don’t mind working unsociable hours and holidays in order to achieve their goals.
How to Respond to Holiday Hacking
There are various things you can do to boost cybersecurity so you’re protected as much as possible, whether it’s a long weekend or a weekday. Remote monitoring services ensure that activity on your network is always being noted. Security logs should be regularly audited, and no-one should drop their guard when it’s holiday time. Effective prevention of cyberattacks and security breaches depends on being proactive and continuously monitoring and reviewing the activity on your system.
Your staff need time off and increasing their workload to ensure cybersecurity is maintained every day of the year isn’t a sensible option. We have to accept that security threats are an inevitable part of the computing environment today and work around it. This can be a challenge for businesses that don’t have massive resources to throw at the problem, but there are still options out there.
We have a solution for you. Quikteks helps businesses to deal with the complex problem of cybersecurity, using cost-effective solutions that don’t skimp on quality. Perhaps your organization has problems with IT management, or a cybersecurity knowledge gap. We are here to help you.
Using remote technology, we can automatically monitor your network, detecting unusual activity and proactively catching problems before they turn into serious issues, including malware and ransomware attacks. Believe us – a forward-thinking approach is the only way to go if you are determined to keep your systems secure.
The time to take action against cybercrime and security threats is now, not after the event. To secure your organization’s computer systems, call Quikteks today at (973) 882-4644.