The constant growth of cyber attacks has generated concern among users from different sectors. The increasing complexity of cybercriminals' strategies demands increased attention, especially during the holiday season. In this article, we'll explore nine essential tips for strengthening digital security during this festive period, protecting your company against threats that could irreparably harm the smooth running of your business.
Although technological advances have enabled the development of increasingly efficient resources to optimize our work routine, vulnerabilities through this technology have also been favored . Cybercriminals find increasingly sophisticated ways to improperly access a business's networks and devices, and thus cause immeasurable losses to companies.
In this sense, it is essential to find solutions and tools that help optimize the security of your business and avoid problems caused by these threats. Equally important is to ensure an awareness process among all users in your company, considering that most threats are favored by behaviors established by the users themselves , such as accessing insecure pages, creating low-security passwords and also downloading attachments. and applications indiscriminately.
During the holiday season, numerous cyber attacks are targeted that take advantage of users' vulnerability and lack of attention. Considering the large amount of purchases that are made during these periods, cybercriminals end up creating fake emails (phishing) disguising themselves as well-known companies, and even creating fake pages to collect victims' financial data. For this reason, it is essential to pay extra attention to stay safe in the face of these threats.
Why do cyberattacks increase around the holidays?
The increase in cyber attacks during the holiday season is a reality and is not new. We know that the last quarter of the year is one of the periods where there is a substantial increase in cyber crimes , seeking to exploit the vulnerability caused by the growth of electronic commerce and financial transactions that are carried out in the online environment. In 2022 alone there was a 24% growth in the number of consumers in Brazil , consequently increasing the number of potential victims for cybercriminals.
According to a study by Meta “Expectations for the 2023 Shopping Season”, around 64% of customers research and buy their products in e-commerce. With this, we can understand why cybercriminals redirect their attacks to this audience.
See this article on the subject, which details the growth of cyber threats through social networks during the holiday season:
Focusing on obtaining financial data, cybercriminals use phishing schemes to collect data from unsuspecting users and carry out scams that cause immense losses. According to the report carried out by Appgate , a company that monitors access to cyber incidents worldwide, around 66% of financial fraud incidents in 2022 were caused by phishing, showing an increase of 44% compared to the last period .
The expectation is that these scams and attempted financial fraud will show record growth in 2023. Based on this, we can understand why it is so important to establish practices and adopt tools that guarantee greater security for your devices and networks.
Although phishing is a cyber scam that has been applied since the emergence of the internet, this is one of the threats that poses the greatest risk to companies. Even though it does not require sophisticated tools and resources to be applied , this threat can cause great losses to the company and cause irreparable damage.
Unauthorized brand use is also a major concern during this time. Often using a phishing strategy to collect information, cybercriminals offer products and services disguised as well-known brands, often causing the user to make deposits or financial transactions based on the legitimacy of the contact.
Since these cyber threats are being applied in an increasingly intelligent way, the more prepared your company is to deal with these problems, the better your digital security strategy will be during the holiday season.
Dangers of cyber attacks that customers suffer
There are currently several types of cyber attacks, each being applied to different objectives. One of the biggest risks presented by digital threats is the loss and leakage of confidential information . After the emergence of the General Data Protection Law, concerns about information privacy became even greater.
The LGPD included in its content several rules and protocols that must be followed with the main objective of ensuring the protection of information that is stored, manipulated and used by companies . Your security strategy must focus on maintaining the confidentiality of this data, avoiding not only the punishments that are applied by the LGPD regulatory agency, but also the commercial losses that may be suffered.
Even if the data leak was due to a cyber attack, your company's image could be seriously damaged in the market. Consumers will think twice before hiring a company that has suffered a data breach in the past.
Another major problem that can also be caused by cyber attacks is the improper access of cybercriminals to business networks and devices. In addition to exposing confidential information, this improper access can encourage the installation of malicious software and files , which can cause damage to devices or act as a spy application, monitoring all activities carried out on your company's network.
These applications can also arrive via email, based on a phishing strategy. We need to remember that even the most experienced users can end up being victims of cyber threats like this, considering that they have been using increasingly sophisticated tools and strategies to circumvent their digital security and make users download dangerous applications.
The denial of service attack (DDoS) is also an approach that can greatly harm your company's profitability and reliability in the market. Using several previously infected devices, cybercriminals make large-scale requests for your business's pages and services.
Excessive traffic ends up making it impossible for legitimate customers to be able to use your services and purchase products through your page. In addition to harming your profitability, the DDoS attack has a negative impact on your image among consumers.
Your company's confidential information can also be intercepted by a cyber attack known as man and the middle . Through your company's network, cybercriminals can position themselves and intercept communication between users and other people or companies.
This attack makes it possible not only to visualize the content, but also to inject new data into this information exchange flow . This type of attack can be extremely harmful among companies that need to keep sensitive data out of the reach of unauthorized users.
Creating an IT environment to ensure the digital security of your business during the holiday season
Now that we understand how these cyber attacks can considerably harm your company, it is necessary to talk about protection strategies for your digital security. As we said previously, it is not enough to adopt solutions and tools that help keep the digital environment more protected: it is also necessary to ensure that all employees and users are aware of the type of access that can be carried out and how inappropriate behavior can harm the organization .
Creating a robust IT environment for the holiday season is a strategy that must be implemented considering several factors:
- Implementation of firewalls;
- Implementation of intrusion detection systems;
- Network monitoring;
- Access policies;
- Between others.
Training your employees is an essential process to ensure a safer IT environment and to keep your company away from cyber attacks during the holiday season. Here are nine tips we’ve put together to increase your digital security:
1. Keep your devices updated
Updating applications and devices is an essential process for these devices to remain secure in the face of evolving cyber threats. Updating these devices must be done according to the specific schedule as updates are needed.
It is important to remember that not only applications must remain up to date. Cell phones, tablets, computers, among others, should be updated whenever possible. These updates are developed to correct vulnerabilities in order to strengthen the digital security of your business.
2. Use strong and unique passwords
It's not new that we talk about the importance of creating robust and complex passwords to avoid cyber attacks. Although it is easier to administer, using a single password for multiple applications represents a real risk to data security.
Your team must be prepared to deal with this type of access and find a way to ensure that these passwords are remembered without having to use the same pattern for all accesses. Easy-to-deduce passwords or repeated passwords can encourage the creation of points of vulnerability and make the work of cyber criminals easier.
3. Be wary of suspicious emails
As we have seen, one of the oldest threats on the internet, the phishing scam, manages to target its victims through fake emails . Cybercriminals disguise themselves as known companies and recipients to trick users into accessing malicious links or downloading suspicious files
For this reason, it is very important that your employees remain alert to emails considered suspicious, especially those that request personal information or financial data. Unknown links should not be accessed, as in most cases they are related to a fraud attempt.
4. Use a secure connection to make online purchases
We know that at the end of the year, online shopping increases considerably. To avoid the main cyber scams, it is essential to take extra care during these operations.
Using a VPN virtual private network can be of great help to those looking to make their purchases in a safer environment. This type of network guarantees a safer environment for exchanging information and carrying out financial transactions, as it makes unauthorized access difficult.
5. Monitor your accounts regularly
The lack of information and lack of control over your information and financial transactions is a real risk. It will only be possible to notice a fraud attempt quickly if there is clear knowledge of everything that is happening in your accounts and financial applications.
During the holiday season, it is essential to continuously monitor and monitor your accounts , this way, if a threat is identified, the problem can be corrected more quickly. Suspicious transactions must be immediately reported to the financial institution, making it easier to identify and block new attempts.
6. Strengthen Wi-Fi security
The network used for transactions and access must also be protected against threats and unauthorized access attempts. Just as your application passwords must be secure and difficult to deduce, the Wi-Fi network password must also be equally robust.
It is necessary to regularly change the Wi-Fi password and ensure the use of wpa3 encryption, in order to increase the security of the Network.
7. Back up your data regularly
We know that as cyber threats are increasingly sophisticated, it is possible that even if you implement all security measures, your company will experience an attack of this type . In this case, your company needs to have a recovery plan that helps maintain activity even after a digital attack.
Creating a backup will help your company recover after an attack of this type and prevent the permanent compromise of your important information. This way, if data is lost during a cyber attack, your business will be prepared to recover and maintain its operation.
8. Be aware of privacy settings
Cybercriminals use a strategy called social engineering to create increasingly specific threats and traps. This data is extracted from social networks and platforms like LinkedIn, where a lot of personal information ends up being made available in an inconsequential way.
To prevent cyber criminals from using your information against you, it is important to limit the privacy of your accounts. Limiting personal data will hinder access by cybercriminals and prevent this data from being used to carry out scams of all types.
9. Continuously educate yourself about digital security
Using sophisticated protection tools is a strategy that can help your company stay protected from major cyber attacks. However, none of these tools are 100% effective, as cyber threats evolve along with new technologies. In 2022 alone, Brazil suffered more than 103 million cyber attacks , demonstrating an exponential increase, and it is very important that all users are prepared to deal with these threats and avoid creating points of vulnerability.
For this reason, it is essential to establish a continuous education process that helps prepare your team to deal with the main security problems present in the digital environment. To do this, your entire team must stay informed about the main cyber threats and the practices that are used to divert information and cause problems for companies.
Ensure your digital security during the holiday season
The end of the year festivities are a time of great celebration and joy, avoiding cyber threats during this phase will allow everyone to have a great end of the year without worrying about cyber scams that could harm the smooth running of the business. Preparing against this type of threat is a smart strategy that will avoid the main problems caused by these approaches.
Educate your team to identify and avoid cyber threats and ensure the use of quality tools to keep your digital environment safer . Your digital security strategy during the holidays must take into account that, even if most people are in a festive mood, there are still several cybercriminals who are prepared to use your vulnerabilities and cause immeasurable damage to your business. .
