As December 2019 rolls in, businesses prepare for both the festive season and the cyber threats that come with it. While teams wind down, attackers ramp up. IT leaders must stay vigilant to avoid becoming part of the season's breach statistics.
Phishing attempts increase as scammers impersonate couriers, retailers, and charities. Employees rush through emails, miss red flags, and click on malicious links. Organizations implement targeted user awareness campaigns and remind staff to verify before they trust.
December is the worst time to postpone patching. Threat actors exploit known vulnerabilities while IT teams operate with skeleton staff. Businesses ensure all critical systems are up to date and test backup restorations before the break begins.
As users travel, they carry corporate devices across borders and public networks. IT teams reinforce policies around tethering, VPN use, and endpoint encryption. Geofencing and mobile risk alerts help detect suspicious behavior in real time.
Holiday cover often means new or temporary access is granted. Smart businesses follow least privilege principles and enable logging for any elevated accounts. They review and restrict access windows to minimize exposure.
Eduardo Wnorowski is a Technologist and Director at Virtus Group Ltd.
With over 24 years of experience in IT and consulting, he brings deep expertise in networking, security, infrastructure, and transformation.
Eduardo helps New Zealand businesses navigate change with clarity, security, and trust.
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