Festive Season Cyber Security: Stay One Step Ahead of Christmas Scams
The festive season should be a time to relax, connect with loved ones and recharge, but for cybercriminals, it’s one of the most active periods of the year. As businesses wind down, staff take holidays and online activity surges, attackers seize the opportunity to target both individuals and organisations.
At Forth Tech, we’re committed to helping you stay protected throughout the Christmas period and into the New Year. Here’s what you need to know to stay cyber-aware this festive season.
Why Cyber Threats Increase at Christmas
Several seasonal factors contribute to a spike in cybercrime:
- Increased online shopping, leading to more delivery notifications and receipts that can be easily spoofed.
- Reduced staffing levels, leaving fewer people monitoring systems or identifying suspicious activity.
- Remote and hybrid working, with employees using home networks that may lack strong security controls.
- Holiday urgency, where end-of-year tasks and last-minute deals encourage rushed decisions.
A single careless click is all it takes to put your personal or business data at risk.
Common Festive Season Cyber Threats
Here are some of the most frequent scams seen over the festive season:
- Fake Delivery Alerts: Criminals impersonate Royal Mail, DPD, Evri, Amazon and other couriers to send malicious tracking links or request “re-delivery fees.”
- Seasonal Phishing Emails: Messages with subjects like “Christmas invoice due”, “Secret Santa details” or “Holiday bonus available” trick users into opening infected attachments or entering credentials into fake portals.
- Charity Scams: Fraudulent donation websites and social media appeals often appear during the giving season. Always verify charities before sending money.
- Gift Card Fraud: Attackers may pose as colleagues or managers requesting urgent gift card purchases, a scam that spikes in December.
- Christmas E-card and Message Scams: Seemingly harmless festive greetings can contain malware or links to credential-harvesting sites.
How to Stay Cyber-Aware Over Christmas
- Treat all links and attachments with caution: Don’t click unless you’re expecting the message and recognise the sender. When in doubt, verify first.
- Strengthen your passwords: Use long, unique passwords across your accounts to reduce the risk of compromise.
- Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA): Adding an extra security step significantly improves your protection, especially when working remotely.
- Ensure all software is up to date: Before closing the office for Christmas, make sure devices and systems have the latest patches installed.
- Be careful when using public or home Wi-Fi: Avoid accessing sensitive business systems over unsecured networks. A VPN is essential for remote access.
- Verify unusual requests independently: If someone asks for urgent payments, gift cards or sensitive data, confirm via a separate communication channel.
Stay Protected This Christmas with Forth Tech
Cybercriminals rely on Christmas distractions, but with awareness and good cyber practices in place, you can keep your data and systems safe. Forth Tech is here to support you with robust cyber security, managed IT services and expert guidance, through the festive season and throughout the year. For more information, call our team on: 0333 9000 100 or email info@forthtech.co.uk.
From all of us at Forth Tech, stay secure and have a safe, happy Christmas.
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