Holiday Cyber Scams Are on the Rise: Protect Your Business From Phishing and Ransomware Now

SevenC, a managed IT Service provider, warns the holidays are the best time of year for phishing criminals.

“While there is no specific data on the number of phishing attacks that occurred in South Africa in December 2023, relevant information about phishing trends in the country during that period indicates that phishing attacks detected for corporate users in Q3 2023 increased by 134% compared to Q2 2023 and by 16% compared to Q3 2023,” says Graeme Millar, managing director of SevenC.

“This suggests a significant increase in phishing activity coming up to December 2024.”

SevenC highlights the causes of holiday phishing scams?and offers tips on how to protect your business during the holiday season.

Why holidays create the perfect phishing storm

Before discussing phishing prevention measures, it’s useful to know why holidays create the perfect phishing storm, especially when it comes to e-commerce and (mobile) commerce businesses.

Retail shops are no strangers to higher sales volume during the last six weeks of the year. And, as more people choose to purchase online rather than wait in queue, the number of targets for various types of attacks, including DDoS, phishing, and spoofing, has expanded.

However, eCommerce and m-Commerce are not the only industries where assaults grow during the end-of-year holidays. Organisations across all sectors find considerable increases in the number of workers absent around the holidays. This leaves many businesses with a skeleton team to detect and neutralise possible cyberattacks.

Common Holiday phishing scams and ransomware attacks

Here’s a roundup of common holiday phishing scams and ransomware attacks:

Phishing Scams Targeting Consumers

• Fake order receipts: At a time when consumers are unusually active, threat actors are ready to send bogus purchase receipts by email or SMS in an attempt to persuade users to click on a link to a malicious site. Often, the site may encourage the user to download malware or input data.
• Tracking emails and texts: Attackers send emails or messages with alleged tracking information for online purchases. They may link to phishing websites that steal personal information or request money. They may also be used to initiate discussions with the intention of obtaining personal information or stealing money.
• Non-payment scams: These include attackers convincing victims to send products but never paying for them. This assault is also particularly simple to carry out during the busy Christmas shopping season.
• Fraudulent social profiles: Scammers establish social accounts that promote phony deals in order to get victims to interact.
• Holiday travel scams: Fake offers of free or discounted travel or lodgings are particularly attractive during the peak travel season.
• Gift card fraud: This occurs when a threat actor takes many legitimate gift cards or discount coupons and resells them at a significant discount. A threat actor may also influence gift cards by learning how legal gift cards and discount codes are manufactured, allowing them to construct illicit gift cards that are indistinguishable from true ones from the retailer’s perspective.
• Malicious advertising: Scammers utilise search engine and other website adverts to get prospective victims to visit their websites. During the holidays, they often include holiday-related promotions in their advertisements.

Phishing Scams and Ransomware Attacks That Target Employees

• Fraudulent job postings: The Christmas season brings a surge in temporary work, making it an excellent opportunity for attackers to create bogus seasonal job advertisements.
• False charity contributions: Scammers may build bogus websites, send emails, or text messages soliciting charitable donations, taking advantage of people’s increased eagerness to give over the holidays.
• Incentive scams: Because many companies give bonuses at the end of the year, fraudsters set up phishing operations to target employees with fake incentive offers.
• Big game hunting ransomware: Criminal gangs target organisations with easy cash flows around the holidays, since firms may be more willing to pay ransoms to prevent interruptions during high sales seasons.

10 Ways To Protect Your Business From Phishing And Ransomware

How can businesses defend themselves against phishing and ransomeware attacks over the holidays?

1. Consider creating a holiday phishing prevention strategy that includes an emergency plan and a 24-hour response team capable of handling phishing threats against your company quickly.
2. Gone are the days when “Password123” could be used to secure your data. Passwords have become trivial to steal or break using brute-force assaults. That is why two-factor or multifactor authentication is critical for organisations seeking to decrease cyber threats and properly safeguard accounts and data.??
3. Don’t open a link in an email or message unless you are 100 percent convinced it is legitimate. Never provide login passwords, bank account details, or credit card information over email.??
4. Search and analyse the web for mentions of your brand. These scans may uncover fraudulent behaviour early on.
5. Monitor domains similar to your own to detect attempts by fraudsters to establish websites that spoof your firm. Placing obfuscated code on your real websites may also aid trace duplicated pages.
6. Keep an eye out for phoney social media identities and advertisements. You don’t have direct authority over such sites, but you’ll want to monitor for fraudulent behaviour so you may request takedowns.
7. Educate employees on phishing dangers that are particularly prominent to your industry or sector.
8. Consider making your customer service staff more available so that issues can be addressed promptly, minimising the likelihood that your consumers may interact with fraudsters since they were unable to contact your firm fast enough to enquire if an offer is authentic.
9. Swiftly respond to phishing attacks by ensuring you have the necessary tools, teams, and resources in place. Stopping phishing in all channels, including email, SMS, social media, and vishing, within hours is crucial for minimising corporate damage.
10. Consider your back up and data recovery plans are it is the greatest final defence since it reduces the impact of a phishing assault.

Protect Your Business With a Managed IT Service Provider

You deserve a well-deserved holiday for Christmas and the opportunity to spent time with family and friends without worrying about the safety of your company. Hiring an expert IT service provider is an efficient approach to keep your organisation safe during the holidays. SevenC have extensive expertise delivering cybersecurity and full IT services to organisations in and around South Africa.??For more information, contact SevenC today.

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Author: Andrea Caknis from APC Publishers on behalf of SevenC.

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