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December 16, 2024

'Tis the Season for... Attacks

How to Keep Your Clients’ Digital Holidays Safe and Bright

As the holiday season approaches, businesses of all sizes are preparing for the festive rush. However, alongside the excitement and celebration there’s another annual event taking place in the background: cybercriminals crafting their own set of malicious gifts. Therefore, for Managed Security and Privacy Service Providers (MSSPs) this time of year presents a critical opportunity to reinforce cybersecurity measures and ensure clients remain protected from a potential holiday nightmare. 

In this post, we’ll explore the importance of cybersecurity during the festive season, the common reasons for rising holiday threats and how MSSPs can support their clients in staying safe. 

Why Do Threat Actors Love the Holidays? 

To start off, let’s explain why for many this might be the season of giving, but for cybercriminals it’s the season of taking.  

According to a Darktrace research, cyber attacks, especially ransomware can increase by a staggering 70% during the holiday months of November and December compared to January and February. This isn’t a coincidence, but a calculated exploitation of unique seasonal vulnerabilities, caused by a number of factors like: 

  • Understaffed IT Departments 
    The recent Semperis 2024 Ransomware Holiday Risk Report finds that 90% of the US organizations surveyed reduce their IT security staff during holiday periods by as much as 50%.  This skeleton crew approach creates critical monitoring gaps that hackers conveniently exploit, knowing that response times will be significantly delayed, increasing the financial and reputational impact on organizations. 
     
  • Emotional Consumer Behavior  
    Another addition to the attackers’ paradise is the shopping madness, which results in an increase of US holiday spending with each passing year. This might be great for the economy, yet the massive surge in digital transactions creates a target-rich environment for cybercriminals. The attackers often take advantage of the emotional urgency the holiday shopping drives, which makes individuals more likely to click suspicious links or provide sensitive information. Тhey send fraudulent emails offering “too good to be true” promotions and fake shipping notifications, often pumping these scams out to email addresses on an industrial scale. In fact, this holiday season, Bitfender has found that 3 out of every 4 Black Friday themed marketing “spam” emails are actually scam, intended to defraud consumers of their money or even install malware on their device to steal credentials or data. 
     
  • Remote Work Complications  
    Flexible work arrangements during the holidays add to the complexity – with most   companies maintaining remote holiday work arrangements networks also become more porous. Personal devices, unsecured home networks, and reduced corporate oversight create multiple entry points for potential breaches.  

3 Essential Security Measures for MSSPs to Keep Their Clients Merry and Safe

In short, reduced organizational vigilance, increased remote work, and complex staffing changes during the Christmas holidays create a perfect storm for potential security breaches. For MSSPs, ensuring clients remain vigilant during this time is key to preventing a successful attack. Here is how that can happen:

  • Check Their Systems Twice (and Continuously)
    Simply put, traditional annual penetration testing is no longer sufficient in an environment where threats emerge and mutate at lightning speed. Modern MSSPs must consider implementing real-time, continuous monitoring systems that provide instantaneous insights into any potential security gaps.
    This approach transforms vulnerability management from a periodic checkpoint to a dynamic, ongoing process. This way, MSSPs can create a robust shield against potential cyber incidents, identifying and assessing potential vulnerabilities before they can be exploited, providing clients with a proactive defense mechanism that operates 24/7.

  •  Wrap Up Reporting Swiftly
    In the high-stakes world of cybersecurity, time is of the essence. Especially during Christmas. Accelerated reporting transforms how MSSPs deliver critical security insights, turning potential vulnerabilities into opportunities for immediate action. This strategy is about creating a reporting ecosystem that is not just fast, but also provides clear information that includes prioritized recommendations, potential impact assessments, and strategic remediation steps.

  •  Communicate Fast, Fix Faster
    Identifying vulnerabilities and reporting them to the client is only half the battle – remediating high-risk issues as soon as possible is essential as it reduces exposure windows and minimizes the likelihood of a successful attack.  
    For this to happen, clear and consistent real-time communication is critical. By facilitating seamless communication, providing clients with regular updates and alerts about vulnerabilities as they are discovered, MSSPs can keep clients informed and empower them to take immediate action when needed. 

 

Conclusion

During the holidays cybercriminals are out in full force and the risks to businesses are high. However, the situation also offers MSSPs a chance to demonstrate their value as trusted security partners. By adopting advanced measures like continuous pen-testing, improving client communication, and leveraging automation tools for accelerated reporting MSSPs can provide robust protection against seasonal threats. 

 

Ready to Redefine Your Security Strategy? 

Book a demo today and discover how Plainsea’s augmented, continuous pen-testing platform can help you keep your clients free from any Grinch-like security threats not only this holiday season, but all year round. 

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