While it seems as though we never see the numbers for malicious retail websites and ransomware attacks actually go down, studies show that many mitigating factors are responsible for cybercrime on the rise for the 2021 holiday shopping season. According to Check Point Research, more than 5,000 brand new malicious websites turn up each week on average, which is the highest rate of increase since the beginning of the year. What are they gearing up for now? None other than Black Friday – the most critical holiday shopping day of the season. Are your employees checking out the annual sales on their work computers? Are they shopping from home on semi-secure internet access accounts that could allow cybercriminals a foot in the door to remote work equipment? It is time to educate, prepare, and prevent as many attacks as possible, primarily as targeted phishing emails increase and holiday shopping is just around the corner.
Employee Education Programs
While anti-virus and malware software, as well as firewall and network security, are essential to protect your business from attackers, the most crucial weapon in your arsenal is to ensure that your team is trained and educated on how to avoid becoming a victim to cybercriminals. The holiday shopping season brings in a whole new opportunity for criminals to take advantage of unsavvy shoppers, both in-store and online. A built-in dynamic provides a seasonal sense of urgency to buy now and be concerned about potential problems later, especially with the current supply issues at hand. The most popular children’s toy of the year is often a quick scramble to become the Christmas morning hero, which makes these items, in particular, even more, attractive to scammers.
There are many different approaches to using malicious retail websites that could potentially impact your business if your employees are caught off-guard. Not only could they be tricked into spending money on products that don’t exist – a ploy that has risen dramatically in 2021, but they could also unwittingly expose work computers, remote work computers connected to business networks, and mobile devices on the company account to viruses, malware, and ransomware attacks. One company has tracked the increase in malicious websites and has identified a 178 percent increase in new sites compared with the average number for the year just from October to November. Phishing emails increase during the holidays as well, promising unbelievable deals on top brands, products, and gifts.
Synivate can provide you and your team with the training, ongoing support, and network security services necessary to thwart attempts to attack your business and help you recover if they are successful. A comprehensive backup and recovery plan can ensure that your organization can get back up and running quickly after an attack, power surge, natural disaster, or any other type of incident. Do not ignore the importance of employee training, and make sure that you have a plan in place ahead of the holiday shopping season. Contact our team to get a free evaluation, which can help you identify the areas of your business that require the most assistance and support. We can answer any questions that you might have about our services and help to create a custom approach that will check all the boxes based on your unique needs and industry requirements.
Cybercrime on the Rise: What You Can Do
A combination of network security and business continuity programs can help to protect your organization during the holiday shopping season and every day of the year. Whether you and your team work out of a single office, have multiple locations, or if your staff are currently remote working from home, our services can work to your advantage. Our many years of experience in the Greater Boston area providing professional network security services, IT monitoring and management support, and implementing backup and recovery programs for businesses just like yours can benefit you in many ways. We can work with you and your staff to set up a training program and offer ongoing support to prevent malicious attacks. As phishing emails increase and cybercrime on the rise, it pays to take a proactive approach to protect what matters most. Synivate can recommend additional measures that you can use to protect your company and essential data from cybercriminals. Give us a call today at 617-848-1248 and speak with one of our team members about your concerns.