During the holiday season, there is an increase in online and real-life traffic, and attackers will take advantage of that. Not only are consumers at risk, but so are businesses. Make this holiday season is a priority to protect yourself from the hackers that are attempting to exploit this increase of online and in-store shopping.
In a report published by Carbon Black last year, researchers stated that cybersecurity alerts experienced a huge jump on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The report also stated that the highest spike in cyber activity and cybersecurity alerts also occurred after Christmas sales.
There a few reasons that explain the sharp rise in cybercrime activity during the holiday season. Besides the obvious increase in the amount of money moving around, there are three main factors impacting cybersecurity:
- Being a hacker is easier than ever:
Attack kits are cheap and readily available on the dark web, effectively lowering the barrier of entry.
- An ever increasing arsenal of hacks:
Hackers are improving their tools by incorporating artificial intelligence using exploits and targeting mobile applications.
- Social engineering tricks remain effective:
Spear-phishing campains and other social engineering-based attacks are still tricking people. Consumers enticed by low airfares and gift card deals are easy targets for these email based campaigns. A recent trend of fake package tracking emails has also exposed plenty of users to malware.
Carbon Black researchers also noted that many companies are understaffed this time of year and that can lead to less scrutiny over potentially harmful emails. To combat any potentially dangerous emails from being opened, executives need to instill a cyberaware culture within the company. Inspire your employees and coworkers to be vigiliant for tell-tale signs of a phishing email, such as poor grammar, mispelled words, unorthodox URLs, and definitely make sure emails are from a legitimate sender. Also, be skeptical of requests for personal or financial information. Most importantly, be wary around attachments. It may not seem like much, but a little education can save your network.
