05/12/2024

As the festive season approaches, many of us look forward to a well-earned break. However, while we celebrate, relax, and spend time with loved ones, cyber criminals see this period as a prime opportunity. With IT and SecOps teams often operating with reduced resources during the holidays, businesses can become more vulnerable to cyber threats.

It’s essential to remain vigilant and prepared to protect business-critical data during the holiday shutdown. By following a simple yet effective cyber security checklist, your organisation can stay resilient against potential risks and emerging threats.

Preparing for the Holiday Shutdown: A Cyber Security Checklist

Here are six essential steps to keep your organisation secure during the festive season:

 

1. Identify the Risks

Understanding potential vulnerabilities is the foundation of a strong defence.

  • Assess holiday risks like staffing gaps, phishing, and data loss from rushed processes, and communicate them with your team in advance.
  • Implement or refine your risk management process to adapt to the changing threat landscape.
  • Delegate authority to decision-makers and plan for key personnel unavailability. Regular testing ensures a smooth response when needed.

A clear understanding of risks enables you to anticipate and address challenges before they arise.

 

2. Activate Your Holiday Shutdown Policy

Planning and preparation can turn a potential crisis into a manageable situation.

  • Establish a clear incident response plan and communicate it to relevant teams.
  • Designate on-call personnel with clearly defined roles to ensure quick responses.
  • Update and share contact lists with both internal teams and external partners to avoid delays during an emergency.

A robust shutdown policy ensures your organisation is ready to respond effectively, even with limited resources.

 

3. Automate and Monitor

With reduced staffing, automation tools become indispensable in maintaining visibility.

  • Focus on ensuring existing systems are fully operational and well understood.
  • Test your controls and response processes—such as conditional access policies and password resets—so they’re ready to be deployed swiftly if needed.
  • Maintain a register of traveling employees and share it with the team responsible for investigation and response.

By keeping your team informed and engaged, and by proactively preparing for potential risks, you reduce the chance of human error and strengthen your organisation’s overall security posture.

 

4. Educate and Communicate Beforehand

Your employees are your first line of defence, so ensure they’re equipped to stay secure.

  • Reinforce security policies and provide clear guidance on recognising phishing risks.
  • Remind staff to avoid interacting with unsolicited links, unexpected surveys, or unusual requests for sensitive information.
  • Hold pre-holiday briefings to ensure everyone understands their role in protecting the organisation.
  • Maintain a register of traveling employees and share it with the team responsible for investigation and response. 

By keeping your team informed and engaged, and by proactively preparing for potential risks, you reduce the chance of human error and strengthen your organisation’s overall security posture.

 

5. Physical Security Counts

Cyber security isn’t just about the digital—it extends to the physical as well.

  • Restrict access to critical infrastructure and secure physical systems.
  • Enforce a clean desk policy to protect sensitive information.
  • Double-check that locks, alarms, and access controls are fully operational during office closures.
  • Ensure that equipment, especially laptops, is safely stored, whether at home or during travel.

Physical security measures provide an additional layer of protection against potential breaches.

 

6. Review and Reflect

As the year draws to a close, take the opportunity to strengthen your cyber security posture.

  • Focus on reviewing and testing your systems to validate that controls are correctly placed to stop the most relevant threats.
  • Examine logs for any indications of attempted breaches and use these insights to inform your plans for enhancing resilience in the new year.

Reflecting on past performance and identifying areas for improvement ensures you remain ahead of evolving cyber threats. 

 

Enjoy a Secure and Peaceful Holiday Season

By taking these steps, you can rest assured that your organisation is prepared to handle any unforeseen challenges over the festive period. Protecting your business-critical data and systems will allow you to enjoy the holidays with peace of mind.

Should you require assistance, our team is available to support you—24/7, even during the holiday season. Wishing you a safe, secure, and happy festive season!

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Think this service suits your business? We work with a multitude of different industries across the board, so get in touch with us if you think you’re in the right area and would like to talk to one of our team about becoming cyber secure.

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