"By the numbers: 52% of ransomware attacks in the last year happened on a weekend or holiday, according to a report from cybersecurity firm Semperis released in November. 78% of organizations said in the same survey that they reduce security staff over the holidays. Between the lines: Security teams know they need to be on guard while the rest of the company is away, and they often start preparing for this period months in advance, Carl Froggett, chief information officer at Deep Instinct, told Axios."
"The big picture: Hackers often use the holiday season, when there are fewer eyeballs on company networks, to pursue phishing, ransomware and data theft attacks. "Those kinds of things are exactly why attackers like this particular period," Froggett said. Flashback: Many of the most high-profile cyberattacks of this decade happened over the holidays. The U.S. government uncovered the Russian-backed SolarWinds espionage campaign right before Christmas in 2020."
Over half of ransomware attacks in the past year occurred on weekends or holidays, while many organizations reduce security staffing during holiday periods. Security teams begin preparing months in advance, completing major patches, IT upgrades, and training before Thanksgiving to minimize exposure. Attackers exploit fewer eyes on networks to pursue phishing, ransomware, and data theft. High-profile intrusions and vulnerabilities have surfaced around holidays, including the discovery of the SolarWinds espionage campaign before Christmas 2020, the Log4j vulnerability weeks before Christmas 2021, and a Treasury Department compromise in late December last year. Cybersecurity firms keep teams online over holidays and advise patching and multi-factor authentication.
Read at Axios
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