The Rise of Cyber Risk During the Summer Months

Like most criminals, hackers and cyber thieves look for opportunities and weaknesses to exploit. Your business may have reasonably good network security protocols in place, and hopefully you’ve trained your employees to watch for suspicious emails. The summer months don’t necessarily bring out more cybercriminals, but they do tend to create vulnerabilities, heightening your risk.

Summer is when more people take off work for vacations. Some businesses offer more relaxed schedules, more working from home, more checking in online while vacationing. In the office, staff may be spread a little thin, as those who are holding down the fort may be covering for vacationing employees. This is all normal summer business culture, but it can create security vulnerabilities.

Checking in while out

The Covid pandemic brought to light how vulnerable IT networks could be with the onslaught of remote working. Businesses struggled with maintaining proper security, and 56% suffered downtime due to a cyber concern. Working from home is generally on a secure WIFI, but when employees are checking in from a coffee shop, airport, hotel or anyplace that doesn’t have secure WIFI, they may be exposing your network to cybercriminals. 43% of businesses have experienced a security compromise while using public WIFI.

Cybercriminals know that people blindly use unsecure WIFI and will hang out in airports, restaurants, and stores just waiting for someone to open their laptop or use their smartphone. Anyone in range becomes a fly in their web. They quietly tap into their financial information when the victim is accessing their bank, or into your business network when they’re accessing work files or email messages. They can even install malware on your device as they sit at next table sipping their latte.

The way to reduce or avoid vulnerability is to use only secured WIFI networks that have encryption technology. You can also use a VPN, virtual private network, when connected to public WIFI. It encrypts data between the device and router, making intrusion much more complicated.

Stretching staff too thin

The other factor that creates heightened vulnerability in the summer is being short staffed. The very people who are tasked with monitoring your security also take vacations, and those delegated to monitor in their absence may not be as skilled. 

Of course, network security is never just the job of one or more tech people in the office – the whole staff must have basic knowledge of security protocols and understand how to spot suspicious activity. But when employees have the added stress of covering the tasks of vacationing co-workers, they may not be as vigilant with security. And, with nasty little tricks like Business Email Compromise, where a hacker sends an employee a very convincing email from the boss, to handle some tasks while they’re out, the setting is ideal for a major security threat. 

Staff should be reminded in the summer months to remain on guard, no matter how busy they are. If they receive an email that has even the slightest whiff of suspicion, it just doesn’t quite sound like something that person would say, they need to avoid replying and first check the validity by phone, or generate a new email to that person, using their known email address.

Get Real Cybersecurity

 Many small businesses handle their own cybersecurity, assuming outsourcing it would not be affordable or more effective. In reality, with a quality cybersecurity company like mPowered IT, you can greatly increase your network security, and potentially spend less. 

To be effective with network security, the people in charge of it must stay on top of the newest threats and know exactly what to look for and how to mitigate issues. That’s difficult for staff to achieve, especially if that’s not their only job.

With mPowered IT, you always have a dedicated, fully trained security team looking out for your network, making security patches as needed, mitigating vulnerabilities before they turn into a cyber event. We even train your staff on security protocols, as they are your last line of defense. And, you can let your tech person take a vacation without worry, because we’re always looking out for your network, no matter who is in or out of your office.

To learn more, call 678-389-6200 or schedule a free consultation.