Remote work is great during the holiday season, as you can travel and attend family gatherings without burning through PTO. However, it also brings increased cybersecurity risks. Employees working while on the road face unique challenges that can expose your business to data breaches, compromised accounts, and malware infections.
Cybercriminals take advantage of busy schedules, distracted workers, and unsecured networks, so now is the perfect time to reinforce secure remote work habits, allowing you and your team to enjoy the holidays and rest easy.
Why is cyber risk higher during the holiday season?
Cyberthreats spike during the holidays for several reasons. First, employees often work from airports, hotels, coffee shops, or relatives’ homes, which increases exposure to unsafe Wi-Fi networks and potentially unsecure devices.
Holiday distractions also increase the likelihood of mistakes, like clicking on suspicious emails without thinking, skipping critical security steps, or overlooking cybersecurity red flags. Cybercriminals leverage this by ramping up the phishing emails, creating fake websites, and launching other attacks specifically designed for the season.
This increased criminal activity is made worse by decreased activity from cybersecurity professionals. IT teams may be operating with reduced staff during the holidays, slowing response times and giving attackers more opportunities to penetrate a network. That’s why it’s up to each employee to do their part to keep themselves and your network safe this winter.
Risks to remote work while traveling this holiday season and how to mitigate them
With the right precautions, you and your employees can reduce exposure without putting a damper on your celebrations. Here are some sources of increased risk while traveling this holiday season and what to do about them.
Public Wi-Fi exposure
Connecting to public Wi-Fi at airports, cafés, or hotels is one of the most common cybersecurity mistakes. These networks lack encryption and allow attackers to intercept data transmissions or “piggyback” into your office network.
How to fix it: Require employees to use a VPN approved by your IT department or managed services provider (MSP) to encrypt traffic. Encourage personal hotspots (with passwords), and disable auto-connect settings on all devices.
Device theft or loss
Travel increases the physical risk to laptops, tablets, and mobile phones. A single lost or stolen device could expose business data or give an attack a back door into your network.
How to fix it: Enforce strong device passwords, enable full-disk encryption, and implement mobile device management (MDM) solutions to ensure devices can be remotely wiped.
Phishing and holiday-themed scams
Travelers receive a deluge of emails and texts from airlines, booking platforms, and retailers during the holidays. Cybercriminals take advantage with fake promotions, delivery notifications, and “urgent” login requests designed to steal login credentials or lure visitors to fake websites riddled with malware.
How to fix it: Hold cybersecurity awareness training for employees and teach them to take the appropriate precautions, like verifying sender addresses and avoiding clicking unknown links.
Shoulder surfing and visual snooping
Not all threats are technically advanced. Working in public areas increases the risk of someone simply snooping on your screen to steal confidential information and passwords.
How to fix it: Provide privacy screens for laptops, and encourage employees to work with their backs to walls or in less crowded areas.
Unsafe charging stations
USB charging ports are also capable of transmitting data, so attackers set up fake chargers in public spaces and use hardline access to steal data or infect devices with malware. This tactic is known as “juice jacking.”
How to fix it: Recommend USB data blockers, or insist that employees use their own chargers and portable power banks.
Keep your remote workers safe on their travels with advanced cybersecurity solutions
To learn more about remote work cybersecurity, implement MDM solutions for your workforce, and prevent threats from sneaking in through unsecured devices, contact outsourceIT. We’ll provide a free cybersecurity assessment and a full suite of cybersecurity services and solutions customized to your remote or hybrid workforce.
