The cash registers are ringing, the online orders are flooding in, and somewhere in a dark corner of the internet, cybercriminals are rubbing their hands together. Unfortunately, the festive season is open season for hackers targeting small businesses.
The numbers tell a chilling story. According to the most recent available data, 94% of small and medium-sized businesses faced at least one cyberattack in 2024. Even more alarming? A staggering 78% of these businesses fear that a single breach could shut their doors permanently.
Pete Cannata, chief operating officer of Atlantic.Net, a global managed hosting and cloud services provider, knows the playbook hackers use during the festive frenzy.
“Small businesses think they’re too small to be targets,” Cannata explains. “That’s exactly what makes them perfect victims. During the holidays, when they’re stretched thin and focused on sales, their guard drops, and that’s when attackers strike.”
Below, Cannata breaks down why small businesses are sitting ducks this season, and exactly how to protect yourself.
Why small businesses are cybercriminals’ favorite holiday target
Small businesses become magnets for every scammer and hacker looking to cash in on the season’s chaos. Between Black Friday and New Year’s, temporary staff haven’t been properly trained, employees rush through security protocols to meet deadlines, and online transactions surge.
Small businesses typically operate on tight budgets, which means cybersecurity gets minimal investment. While Fortune 500 companies employ entire security teams, small business owners juggle everything themselves. More customer touchpoints during the holidays mean more entry points for attackers. Every payment processed, every email opened, every login creates another opportunity.
“The attackers know small businesses are running lean and fast during this period,” Cannata notes. “A business owner processing 300 orders a day instead of 50 isn’t carefully examining every email for red flags. That’s when the fake invoice or malicious link gets through.”
Six essential strategies to scam-proof your business this holiday season
Cannata names six ways of protecting your business against cyberattacks.
1. Train every employee, especially temporary holiday staff: Your security is only as strong as your least-informed employee. That seasonal worker you hired needs security training on day one.
“I’ve seen breaches happen because a temporary employee clicked on a fake shipping notification,” Cannata says. “Create a simple, mandatory security briefing for all staff. Cover the basics: how to spot phishing emails, why they should never share passwords, and who to contact if something looks suspicious.”
2. Enable multifactor authentication everywhere: Passwords alone won’t cut it. Multifactor authentication (MFA) adds a second layer that stops most attacks cold.
“MFA is a means for survival,” Cannata emphasizes. “Even if a hacker gets someone’s password, they still can’t access your systems without that second verification step. It blocks about 99% of automated attacks.”
Enable MFA on email accounts, payment systems, cloud storage, social media—everything.
3. Update and patch everything before the rush hits: Outdated software is like leaving your back door unlocked. Hackers scan for known vulnerabilities in old systems, and small businesses running outdated software are easy pickings.
“Schedule your updates now, before you’re drowning in orders,” advises Cannata. “Update your payment systems, your website plugins, and your operating systems. Cybercriminals have automated tools that find and exploit outdated software in seconds.”
4. Segment your payment systems: Don’t keep all your digital eggs in one basket. If hackers breach one system, you don’t want them accessing everything.
“Separate your payment processing from your general network,” Cannata explains. “Customer payment data should be isolated. If someone compromises your email or website, they shouldn’t automatically have a path to your payment processor.”
5. Back up your data, and test those backups: Ransomware attacks spike during the holidays because attackers know businesses can’t afford downtime during their busiest season.
“Backup your data daily, store those backups offline or in a separate secure location, and actually test your backups,” Cannata stresses. “I’ve seen businesses discover their backup system wasn’t working only after they needed to restore everything.”
6. Monitor your systems and set up alerts: Real-time monitoring catches suspicious activity before it becomes a full-blown breach.
“Set up alerts for unusual login attempts, large data transfers, or access from unexpected locations,” says Cannata. “Modern monitoring tools can flag weird patterns, such as someone trying to log in from Romania when your entire team is in Ohio.”
The holiday season doesn’t have to be a nightmare for small business owners worried about cyber threats. The reality is that most breaches happen because of simple, preventable mistakes, not sophisticated hacking operations, he says.
“By taking a few straightforward steps now, you can significantly reduce your risk. Train your team, enable basic protections like multifactor authentication, and stay vigilant. The businesses that get hit are usually the ones that assumed it wouldn’t happen to them,” Cannata adds. “Remember: cybercriminals are counting on you being too busy to notice the warning signs. Don’t give them that advantage. A little preparation now can save you from a catastrophic breach that could end your business.”
Photo credit: Black_Kira/iStock
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