It’s the holidays! Time for twinkly lights and year-end rush orders. But while businesses are trying to end the year smoothly, hackers and scammers are busy treating December as their personal shopping season.
You don’t need more stress in an already stressful season. In this season of giving, give these cybercriminals nothing to celebrate with these practical tips.
Holiday-themed phishing is everywhere, so slow down before you click
Scammers take advantage of the flurry of activities in December. They’ll send emails pretending to be shipping updates or discount alerts that look very convincing at first glance. Just one careless click on a link, and bam! It'll be one gloomy Christmas.
Avoid becoming a phishing victim with this simple routine:
- Check the sender address carefully. Scammers often use addresses that look almost correct but include extra numbers, strange spellings, or unfamiliar domains. If something seems off, it probably is.
- If links in the email look sketchy, don’t click! Hover your cursor over any link to preview the actual URL. If it looks unusual, misspelled, overly long, or unrelated to the company, do not click it. Even one bad link can lead to malware or credential theft.
- Never share login or payment information through email. If the email sender is asking for login details or payment information, don’t trust the email at face value. A safe move would be to go to the company’s real website instead or contact them using a known, trusted number to confirm the request.
Phones are convenient, but they’re easy targets
Phone activity increases during the holidays, with many staff members opening work messages and handling tasks in between errands using mobiles. Scammers take advantage of the small screen, where warning signs are harder to spot.
To protect employees and company data, provide staff with secure apps, device locks, and threat-detection tools. Train them to spot suspicious messages and avoid public Wi-Fi for work. Clear mobile policies keep everyone secure and will save you from a long clean-up job later. .
Some holiday deals are fake; some websites are, too
Fraudsters often lure employees with fake holiday deals, knowing that these offers can make even careful staff act quickly. Clicking on these deals can lead to fake websites that mimic real companies, complete with logos, layouts, and even customer reviews. Employees who interact with these sites may unknowingly provide credit card numbers, account credentials, or other sensitive business information.
To protect your business, train staff to type website addresses directly instead of clicking on links. Watch for unusual spellings or unfamiliar domain endings, and treat any “limited-time deals” with extra caution. Staying alert can prevent costly security breaches and keep company data safe.
’Tis the season to refresh passwords
When dealing with so many passwords, your staff may end up using weak passwords that are a gift for hackers. To further fortify your business security, require your team to use a password manager. This tool eliminates the need to create and remember long, complex passwords for each of their accounts. And for additional protection, use multifactor authentication for your business accounts. These extra steps go a long way toward blocking unauthorized access.
Updates are necessary, even during holidays
Don’t ignore software updates during the holiday rush, even if they appear at an inconvenient time. Putting them off creates opportunities for attackers to exploit your systems.
This holiday season, schedule a short weekend window for updates. Keep your business protected with a freshly patched system that’ll keep out intruders.
Keep holiday chaos from turning into disaster with backups
Bad weather can happen during the holidays, causing a sudden outage. Or in the midst of a hectic workday, an employee can mistype a command that wipes out important files. Any time is a bad time to experience data loss, but combining holiday chaos and stress? It can turn anyone into a Scrooge.
Always have automatic backups stored off site or in the cloud. And test your backups from time to time. You don’t want to find out too late that your files weren’t restored correctly.
Give your team the gift of an IT partner
The end of the year is traditionally a hectic season, and your staff can easily be stretched thin, leaving security monitoring overlooked. That creates the perfect window for cybercriminals.
However, a managed IT services provider like Kortek can look after your systems while your team focuses on their year-end tasks. Partnering with an MSP ensures your system is safe and prevents surprise security issues during the busiest days of the year.
Let Kortek keep your business safe without slowing down your operations. For extra protection this season and beyond, contact us today.