Turns Out There is a Trend for Cyberattacks Over Holiday Breaks and Weekends

There are countless cybersecurity threats out there, many of which wait until very unfortunate times to strike. One such time is over extended weekends or holiday breaks, when many companies shut down operations longer than the usual two-day weekend. In fact, this is such an issue that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and CISA have issued warnings in response to them.

The FBI and CISA issued an advisory in September warning companies to take preemptive actions to ferret out threats on their networks ahead of the Labor Day weekend. This is presumably because threat actors are aware that IT staff will have limited availability when offices are closed for long weekends, but the issue extends not just three-day weekends but also into holiday weekends in general. 

The advisory specifically cited ransomware attacks as potential problems, and looking at the trends from this year, it’s no wonder. A quick look at some of the high-profile hacking attacks over the past year shows a clear trend in these attacks being instigated against companies over holiday weekends. For example, the Colonial Pipeline attack occurred over Mother’s Day weekend, and the attack on JBS took place over Memorial Day weekend. The massive ransomware attack against Kaseya took place over the July 4th weekend.

If you think about it, escalated numbers of cyberattacks over holidays or long weekends make a lot of sense. Many organizations and businesses close their doors and shut down operations for the weekend, meaning that there are fewer people on staff to keep an eye on things. When there are fewer people working, there are more opportunities to sneak in and do some damage. It’s safe to say that while the rest of us are on break or holiday, a hacker’s job is never done, and they do not care for festivities as much as they care about ruining your business.

Therefore, we recommend that you consider the following: remote monitoring services, enhanced security protections, and regular audits of security logs so that you are never caught unawares, even over holiday breaks or long weekends. Through a combination of proactive measures and continuous review of your systems, you should be able to not only identify the potential for threats on your network, but prevent them entirely.

So, how does a business with limited resources still give their employees the time off they deserve while also protecting their network from the myriad of threats found in today’s connected world? We have a solution for you; Washington Works wants to help your business successfully navigate the dangerous world of cybersecurity without compromising on quality of protection. If your company struggles with technology management and there is a significant knowledge gap within your organization regarding cybersecurity, we would be happy to help fill that void.

Our systems can automatically monitor your network for suspicious activity and detect problems before they occur. This proactive monitoring can keep your organization from becoming a victim of cybersecurity threats like ransomware and other dangerous types of malware. Trust us when we say that the most effective way to protect your business is to take a hard stance on it before you get infected with some type of threat.

Don’t wait until something horrific happens to your business to take action against the ever-increasing number of cybersecurity threats. Contact us today at 301-571-5040 and start your journey toward securing your company.