Why Hackers Love Christmas: Seasonal Threats Businesses Forget About

Hackers Love Christmas: Learn Why your Business Could be at Risk This Holiday SeasonThe festive season should be about celebrating successes, not dealing with a cyber attack. Yet, data from 2024 shows a spike in ransomware, phishing, and holiday-related scams. Both large enterprises, like M&S and Co-op, and smaller businesses are at risk.

Holiday Ransomware Threats

December 2024 recorded 574 ransomware incidents globally. SMEs with reduced staffing are particularly vulnerable. An anonymised Lancashire e-commerce business had systems locked during the Christmas period, losing days of critical sales.

Our Advice: Maintain encrypted, offline backups and test your disaster recovery plan before leaving for the holidays.

Invoice & Payment Scams

Phishing and Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams increase during festive periods. Accounts teams may receive fraudulent invoices or requests from attackers impersonating senior staff.

Our Advice: Implement strict payment approval processes and ensure staff verify all unusual payment requests.
Website & DDoS Risks. High-traffic periods like holiday promotions make websites attractive targets for disruption. Even small retailers can face downtime due to DDoS or cyber attacks.

Our Advice: Use monitoring systems, scalable hosting, and DDoS mitigation tools to protect your online presence.

AI & Deepfake Scams

Cybercriminals now use AI to mimic voices or emails, tricking employees into authorising payments or sharing data.

Our Advice: Encourage secondary verification channels and reinforce staff awareness through training.

Steps to Protect Your Business

• Test backups and disaster recovery plans
• Enable multi-factor authentication
• Train staff on holiday-specific threats
• Monitor systems 24/7
• Review cyber insurance coverage

At J700 Group, we help Lancashire and Manchester SMEs prepare for festive-season cyber risks, ensuring your business stays secure while you enjoy the holidays.