Thanksgiving is a time to slow down, spend time with the people who matter, and maybe eat far more than we planned. It is also a time when many small businesses loosen up a bit. Staff take vacation days. Offices close early. Security habits get relaxed. That is exactly when cybercriminals go to work.
Every year, cyberattacks surge during the holiday season. Criminals know that support desks are short staffed, owners are distracted, and fewer eyes are watching for suspicious activity. A little caution before the holiday can save a lot of cleanup afterward.
Why the Holidays Are a Target
Criminals do not need sophisticated tactics if businesses let their guard down. Around Thanksgiving we tend to see:
• Fake shipping updates for holiday orders
• Bogus Black Friday promotions sent to work emails
• Compromised Wi-Fi while traveling
• Employees working from home on personal devices
• Passwords shared to “just get this done before the break”
No one does any of this on purpose. It happens because everyone is trying to wrap up loose ends before taking time off. That is exactly why threat actors rely on this window.
Smart Security Habits For The Holiday Season
A few simple steps can dramatically reduce risk during short staffing and remote work.
• Make sure every employee signs in with MFA
• Run system and security updates a few days before the holiday to avoid a device breaking or locking out an employee when support is unavailable
• Back up critical files to a protected cloud backup
• Avoid public Wi-Fi unless a secure VPN is in place
• Report suspicious emails instead of clicking and hoping for the best
It is not about making people paranoid. It is about giving them guardrails that let them work from anywhere without putting the business at risk.
A Thanksgiving Message About Security
Cybersecurity is really about protecting what we value. Our businesses support our families. Our data supports the work we do for our clients. If the wrong person gains access to our systems, it is not just files that are at risk. It is reputation, revenue, and trust.
So while we are giving thanks this season, let’s also protect the things that give us something to be thankful for.
How We Help
For businesses that do not have the time or staff to monitor threats during the holiday season, we provide:
• Email security and phishing protection
• Cloud-to-cloud backups of email and documents
• Endpoint protection and reporting
• Ongoing vulnerability scanning
• 24x7 security monitoring and response
We cannot cook the turkey for you, but we can make sure your business stays protected while you enjoy it.
If you would like to talk through holiday protection for your team, we are always happy to help. The best time to prepare is before the season starts, not after something goes wrong.