# Introduction
Every year, as we deck the halls and prepare to celebrate major holidays like July 4th,
cybercriminals are also planning their own "celebrations."
Unfortunately, these festivities come in the form of cyberattacks aimed at businesses and organizations.
But why do we see a rise in attacks during holidays?
How can organizations be prepared? Let’s dig deeper.
# Why Holidays?
Cybercriminals are opportunistic by nature, and they are well aware that during the holidays,
many companies operate with reduced staff as employees take time off to be with their families.
Some key people in the organization - management or tech leaders - might be out of reach.
Attackers are also trained in taking advantages of time differences between territories.
This can result in slower response times to anomalies and potential breaches.
## Preparation is crucial to mitigate the risks posed by holiday cyberattacks:
* Pre-Holiday Planning: Ensure that all security protocols are up-to-date before the holiday season.
* Shift management and staff scheduling: Even during holidays, someone needs to guard the castle, and to be "on call". Staffing should take into account availability of different professions.
* Employee Awareness: Educate employees about the increased risk of attacks during holidays and the importance of vigilance.
* Data Backups: Maintain regular and secure data backups, a foundational practice to recover quickly from any cyber incident.
* Remote access: Secure remote access to the environment can make a huge difference during holiday emergency.
* Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Adding an extra layer of security can deter potential attackers.
* Automated Alerts: Leverage automated systems capable of detecting suspicious activities and notifying appropriate personnel without delay.
* Professional IR team on call: Attackers won't take a holiday, so neither do we. At Profero, we believe that the best defence is a good offense. Our unique Incident Response solution offers you the ability to be proactive rather than reactive. Including a dedicated incident response team ready to act at a moment’s notice.
The heightened risk of cyberattacks during holidays cannot be ignored.
However, with Profero’s unique solution and our proactive approach to incident response, your organization can enjoy the holiday season knowing you are IR Ready.
Don’t gift cybercriminals the chance to exploit your vulnerabilities.
Get Incident Response ready with Profero, where our holiday wish is to keep your company secure, and your data protected.
Stay vigilant, stay safe, and enjoy your holidays!
