Festive time brings cyber security threats

Holidays – the busiest time of the year. For hackers too

Do not forget about scams and malware attacks during holidays this year

The holidays season usually isn’t the time to think about work. Many busy themselves with shopping, recipe planning, and daydreaming. During a few days off, even the biggest companies seem to still for a while and submerge into peaceful quietness. Yet it is time that crime actors and hackers come out of hiding and seek their opportunities.

The upcoming festive season is an active time for cybercriminals. Distracted users don’t seem to notice phishing scams or malicious advertisements.^[1] Additionally, if threatening situations do arise, few professionals would be able to offer help during the holidays. Hackers take that into consideration and plan heinous attacks.

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA points out that cybercriminals view holidays as attractive timeframes in which to target potential victims, including small and large businesses.^[2] That is why individual users and businesses have to take precautions to keep their systems safe.

CISA recommends taking upon proactive strategy. That means to search for signs of threat actor activity to prevent attacks or to minimize damage in the event of a successful attack. Hackers could be spying on victims or be searching through it. With the threat hunting approach, it is possible to evaluate data logs and install automated alerting systems.

Hackers use various strategies to obtain our data

Users are recommended to be extra cautious with emails. It is best to not use a work computer or device for personal stuff. This way, there are fewer chances to catch malicious infections.^[3] If users are searching online and emailing important information, there are bigger chances of getting caught up in phishing.

Actually, phishing emails are one of the most common types of threats. It can hide behind communications from legitimate companies, and crime actors could use the flood of email communications to infiltrate the organization’s perimeter with a phishing attack.

Ransomware is a frequent form of cyber threat too. It is a form of malware that encrypts a victim’s files, and hackers can demand a ransom to restore access to the data upon payment.^[4] Otherwise, the files cannot be decrypted without a key known only by the attacker. Government agencies or facilities as well as global companies, are prone to such attacks.

However, worldwide, data breaches are also highly threatening and critical cybersecurity threats. Data breaches could be caused by the accident if device users unsafely share data. Yet, they can happen intentionally and due to malicious cyberattacks. The exposed confidential information could be viewed, shared, or even end up on the dark web.^[5]

Supply chain attacks will become a frequent threat

Cyber threats are always evolving, changing, and becoming more and more dangerous. Many experts speculate that in the future, companies will have to avoid frequent third-party and supply chain attacks. It is said that such attacks could become a major cyber threat over the next three years.^[6]

84% of enterprises worldwide share their concerns over third-party attacks. The third-party attack is the potential threat presented to organizations’ employee and customer data, financial information, and operations from the organization’s supply chain and other outside parties.

It is extremely important to manage potential risks in order to protect companies’ data and security. Cybersecurity attacks that often occur as the result of third-party risk include intellectual property, credential theft, spear phishing, data exfiltration, network intrusion, fileless malware.^[7] A clear security strategy should be created to keep such threats away.