Holidays: Cyberattacks Likely to Increase, Stay Alert!

Cyber attacks will skyrocket as the holiday season begins, according to cybersecurity experts and other officials. This is historically the case, when holidays and weekends tend to bring a rampage of cyberattacks because office activity is minimal, and people have much to entertain themselves with.

It is no surprise that this has been the trend since most hackers usually exploit the fact that various organizations lower their staff levels during the holidays. This reduces the number of eyes in the network, giving attackers a chance to launch an attack without being quickly detected.

"Banks and credit unions need to be extra cautious during the holiday season," warns cybersecurity expert, Jane Smith. "Hackers always target financial institutions during this time because they realize that they may not have all their staff and resources to respond to an attack."

To prepare for increased threats, banks and credit unions should implement several measures:

• Conduct a risk assessment: Identify potential vulnerabilities in your network and systems, and take steps to address them.
• Implement additional security measures: Consider implementing additional security measures, such as two-factor authentication, to make it more difficult for hackers to gain access to your systems.
• Employee Training: Educate employees about the risks of being targeted by cyberattacks during holidays and inform them about how to react in case such an incident takes place.
• Incident response plan: Prepare and deploy a cyberattack incident response plan. Ensure that it incorporates containment, eradication, recovery, and post-incident activities.
• Monitor systems closely: Keep a sharp eye on your systems and networks as the holidays approach and be in a position to act swiftly upon observation of any suspicious activity.

As such, banks and credit unions can protect themselves against these greater threats of cyber-attacks by the holiday season.

Individuals can also take steps to protect themselves

The responsibility of protecting against cyberattacks lies not only with the banks and credit unions but also individually.

Some tips for the latter: 

• Do not quickly click on a link or an attachment: Hackers make phishing emails to cheat your way to open sensitive information or install malware on your device.
• Use strong passwords: Ensure that you use strong and unique passwords, and use password managers to keep track.
• Keep your software updated: Keep your operating system, browser, and all other installed software up to date, as the latest versions have built-in security patches.
• Monitor accounts: Keep a close eye on your bank and credit card accounts and immediately report any suspicious activity to your financial institution.

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