Security: A major concern in Holiday season

The pre-Christmas period, apart from shopping and overall flurry also means increased security burden on enterprises’ networks. Employees receive a significantly higher number of Christmas and New Year’s greetings that have different “funny“ content and may contain malicious link, malware or any other form of sophisticated threats. This way the whole network can be easily infected or can cause data loss.

A recent survey conducted by the Ponemom Institute concluded that most of the companies protect their network using just basic tools as firewall or IPS solutions. Less than half of companies surveyed had advanced protections to fight botnets and APTs (Advanced Persistent Threats).

"The time around Christmas and New Years, proves to show an increased security burden on Enterprise Networks. While securing network, companies often focus only on the technical matters. There is a lack of user education which is a key factor for effective security management  and includes controlling access to any particular information and setting policies that is enforceable in business operations. Proper education of encrypted data usage and new threats being discovered help prevent data loss and safeguard a company’s interests. It is essential to make the work environment conducive towards responsible actions and wary of how various forms of sophisticated threats can be prevented.  "said, Bhaskar Bhakthavatsalu Regional Director- India and SAARC, Check Point Software Technologies.

Many organizations don´t want to admit that their uninformed employees are a major threat to corporate network security. An employee who doesn´t have the basic skills and doesn´t know how to behave in the cyber world can cause a lot of damage and even the best technology cannot stop him. Clicking on a suspicious link or opening an infected file opens the doors for viruses or hackers to come into the company’s network.

In the context of upcoming Christmas and New Year, attention should be drawn to fraudulent emails. Their number annually increases in this time period. In many cases the recipients are addressed by their names and have attachments that look like greeting cards. This personalized email make the recipients believe it came from a person who they know and stop being cautious.  It is always important to have a second thought and make sure you really know the person who sent the email.

Another topic is gifts shopping online and paying with a credit or debit card. The number of people that use e-shops is growing and many purchase their presents at the last minute. They can easily become a victim of a phishing attacks. Time stress makes people less cautious and they may take unnecessary risks. For example they can buy things from a fraudulent e-shop or enter more information than needed about their credit card details.

The main goal of cybercriminals is to get information, so the Christmas bustle is ideal for them. They know people are busy and therefore they deliver emails and messages on social networks with Christmas themes to get as much personal and corporate information as possible.