Why phishing attacks spike at the end of the year

In his latest blog, Clive Mackintosh, CEO of GDPR Representative services explores why phishing attacks spike towards the end of the year, and what you can do to protect your organisation from vulnerabilities.

Phishing attacks tend to spike around Christmas due to several factors. During the festive season, there is a significant increase in online shopping and email traffic, making it easier for phishing emails to blend in with legitimate communications.

Additionally, people are often more distracted and less vigilant, which increases the likelihood of falling for phishing scams. Cybercriminals exploit this by sending out mass phishing emails that appear to be from reputable retailers or delivery services, tricking recipients into clicking on malicious links or providing sensitive information.

To mitigate the risk of phishing and other cyber attacks, organisations can implement several measures.

Firstly, it is crucial to ensure user awareness of the risks associated with phishing. Regular training sessions can help staff identify and report suspicious emails. Implementing strong anti-spam software can also help filter out any phishing attempts before they reach users.

Organisations should also adopt a multi-layered security approach. This includes using multi-factor authentication (MFA) to protect email accounts and other critical business systems. Ensuring that all software and applications are up to date, and implementing a rigorous approach to patching vulnerabilities will also limit system vulnerabilities.

Implementing firewalls provides another layer of protection, using firewalls to inspect and filter traffic, ideally in addition to employing antivirus and anti-malware software, can provide further protection against cyber threats.

If the worst should happen, it is important to have a robust incident response plan in place.

This plan should outline procedures for identifying, containing and recovering from a cyber attack. It should also include external reporting obligations and strategies for communicating with the public in the event of a breach.

Finally, regularly backing up data and having an effective business continuity plan will also help minimise the impact of an attack.

GDPR Rep is on a mission to help every business achieve and maintain data protection legislation compliance, including the GDPR. If you are looking into how your organisation can fulfil its requirements why not schedule a no-commitment call with a GDPR representative expert today, or get a quote to understand how our value pricing makes compliance simple.