Just Because it's the Holidays Doesn't Mean Cybersecurity Can Take Time Off

During Christmas, technology is unavoidable. Traditionally, the holidays were a time when things slowed down for companies, people spent time with their families, and business was put on the back burner. Those days are over. The modern professional is lucky to get a day off for Christmas; and, because of the way business works today, may be asked to do more than ever around the holidays.

According to Pew Research, between 90-and-95 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas. As a result, many companies will not be staffed for Christmas. One component that has to be taken into consideration is cybersecurity. While a study by IBM suggests that cyberattacks don’t peak during the holidays, many companies hire seasonal help to make operations run more smoothly. This leaves these organizations vulnerable to social engineering attacks and other malignant computer issues.

This additional risk, along with the undeniable amount of stress and reliance these computing systems have on them, make it imperative to have a full-scale cybersecurity plan in place. That’s why many organizations have consulted with IT professionals like Macro Systems to protect their business’ network and infrastructure through diligent planning.

“It takes roughly six months to really prepare,” said Peter Tran of RSA, a computer security firm. Another expert, Demetrios Lazarikos of Blue Lava Consulting stresses testing systems to ensure their cyber security protocols are strong, “The fear is that the system will break. You test the system; you stress it; you try to anticipate the traffic.” He continues, saying that different types of attacks, including Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, create significant problems, and that if there is no dedicated incident-response plan in place, a company’s IT is a sitting duck.

With a plan to guard, test, and protect the systems your company depends on to ensure no infiltrations happen, and any that do are diminished quickly, any business, especially one that depends on its IT to succeed (think eCommerce), can support themselves until business returns to normal following the holidays.

The IT support leaders at Macro Systems are well aware how critical cybersecurity is for the sustainability of your organization, and are committed to helping the DC Metro Area businesses protect their networks through any type of situation. Call us at 703-359-9211 to learn more.