For many companies, Easter means a quieter period with employees on leave, reduced staffing, and temporary replacements. For cybercriminals, however, this creates a strategic opportunity. When IT resources are limited and routines are not followed as strictly, the risk of attacks increases significantly.
Cyberattacks during holiday periods such as Easter are neither random nor unusual – they are often carefully planned to exploit temporary vulnerabilities.
Why do threats increase during Easter?
When regular staff are absent and replaced by temporary personnel, the overall level of cybersecurity preparedness often decreases. This creates opportunities for attackers to:
-
Send targeted phishing emails, such as fake invoices to finance departments
-
Call employees while posing as IT support (vishing) to obtain login credentials
-
Send SMS messages with malicious links (smishing)
-
Exploit weaknesses in MFA and support processes through social engineering
How to strengthen your company’s cybersecurity ahead of Easter – with Acronis
To minimize risks during holiday periods, it is crucial to take proactive measures. By combining Acronis’ integrated cyber protection solutions, you can secure your data, systems, and users:
Ensure IT coverage and monitoring
Make sure critical IT functions are covered, or leverage Acronis Managed Detection and Response (MDR) for 24/7 monitoring and rapid incident response-even when your team is offline.
Educate your staff
Train and repeat! Continuous training and staying up to date are essential for identifying potential threats. With Acronis Security Awareness Training, you help employees recognize phishing attempts, suspicious links, and social engineering.
Limit access rights
Temporary staff should only have access to what is strictly necessary. With Acronis, you can easily manage and control access to systems and data, ensuring it doesn’t end up in the wrong hands.
Pause major changes – but keep systems updated
Avoid major IT changes during holiday periods. At the same time, ensure all systems are up to date, properly patched, and protected through Acronis solutions for backup, disaster recovery, and patch management.
Use strong authentication
Use strong authentication. Ensure that multi-factor authentication (MFA) is enabled, especially for remote access and administrative accounts, as a core part of a robust security setup.
Be alert to fake invoices
Stay vigilant for fake invoices. Always verify senders and payment details. Ensure you have email and endpoint protection in place to identify and block fraud attempts at an early stage.
Make Easter secure!
Holiday periods often mean reduced staffing, but threats don’t take time off. That’s why it’s especially important to be prepared and have the right security routines in place-even during Easter. With a proactive approach to security, you reduce the risk of incidents and can enjoy your time off with greater peace of mind.