It’s that time of year again. We’re decking our halls with boughs of holly and looking forward to resting like merry gentlemen. After a long season of the “unprecedented”; you can’t blame people for being excited for Christmas.
Whilst everyone is busy Whamageddoning, or elfing their shelves; the cyber criminals are also busy. Since 2019, Christmas has become an unofficial holiday for unscrupulous hackers, crackers, and other digital ne’er-do-wells.
Here are 4 reasons why cyber criminals love Christmas too.
There is a higher proportion of online shoppers
There is still a high proportion of old-school Christmas shoppers out there; the ones that like to step out amongst the panic-stricken throng to visit good old-fashioned brick and mortar stores in the high street.
However, over the past decade, there has been a significant rise in online shopping. Of course, over the last two years, this has been accelerated by repeated lockdowns and a subtle paranoia about COVID-19.
When you are busy throughout the Christmas season, having Christmas brought to you is decidedly convenient. However, the increased online traffic is also very convenient for the cyber criminals looking to capitalise on the many people looking for unique presents with their credit card details readily to hand.
People are a lot more distracted at this time of year
Shoppers and employees alike are very busy at this time of year. That means they are more likely to be distracted.
No matter how great the cyber-security course you have put your employees through, December is when mistakes are most often made. It is a rampant month, everyone panicking, and that provides a lot of challenges.
Moreover, retailers are generally only preoccupied with sales at this time of year.
So, with less vigilant staff at the helm, those dodgy links are likely to be clicked.
Cyber criminals love Christmas because your company is more vulnerable.
Increased email marketing provides perfect hacker cover
One of the most powerful marketing tools is email. Even after GDPR, the ROI is something in the region of 40%. So, it is no surprise that there is higher email traffic during the peak sales period.
Last minute buyers are looking for last minute deals, and everyone’s inbox is completely flooded with them. Nobody reads all of them, do they?
This creates the perfect storm for cyber criminals sending phishing emails. Under the constant blanket of marketing emails, the recipient is less likely to pick up on it.
There is more technology to hack
Without launching into a reminiscing monologue about the good old days, it is true to say that things aren’t like they used to be. At Christmas there weren’t so many social-media dependent adults. Nor were there so many children that socialise online as there are today.
So, where we might have been happy with a trampoline, a football, or board games; kids these days are more likely to want technology. So, many households have a pile of hackable gifts.
Games consoles are hooked up to unsecure networks and subscriptions are then activated through credit cards. So much data is now available to cyber criminals.
It is time to remind your staff of the cyber dangers
There is never a better time than the Christmas period to remind your staff of the danger posed by cyber criminals. At the end of day, when the damage is done, your business isn’t going to accept “I was distracted” as an excuse.
As easy as these mistakes are to make, the damage can be extremely costly.
If you need our help with educating your staff, or just want to talk about cyber-criminality in more depth, then please call us on 01327 300311.
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