02 Dec Staying Cyber-Secure Over the Festive Period: What SMEs Need to Know
The run-up to Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year for most small and medium-sized businesses. Staff take well-earned holidays, offices run on reduced numbers, and many day-to-day tasks pause until January.
Unfortunately, cyber criminals know this too. Every festive period there is an increase in opportunistic attacks — usually simple, preventable issues that catch teams off guard because fewer people are around to spot something unusual.
A few key facts for you
- Around 43% of UK businesses experienced a cyber breach or attempted attack in the past 12 months.
- Phishing remains the most common attack vector, with around 37% of businesses reporting it.
- For small businesses, recovery and disruption remain serious: many report downtime and cost impacts after an incident.
The good news? A few small checks can make a big difference and, with the right protection in place, you can enjoy the break with confidence.
Why do cyber-attacks increase over Christmas?
There are three common reasons:
1. Reduced staffing
With fewer people monitoring inboxes, shared mailboxes and business systems, suspicious activity may go unnoticed for longer than usual.
2. Higher volumes of email
Deliveries, invoices, last-minute orders and Christmas offers create the perfect disguise for phishing emails. Attackers know that busy teams are more likely to click quickly.
3. A “we’ll sort it in January” mindset
Even well-prepared businesses can slip into a slower routine during December. A missed update, expired password or forgotten backup can create opportunities for attackers.
The most common festive-period risks
Phishing and fake delivery emails
These are the number one threat at this time of year. Attackers create emails that look like parcel notifications, Christmas offers or urgent account updates. One click can lead to credential theft or malware.
Unpatched devices
Laptops and PCs often get shut down for long periods. If they have missed security updates or are running outdated software, they become an easy target once they reconnect in January.
Weak or shared passwords
Staff covering colleagues may use shared accounts or old passwords. Attackers look for exactly this kind of access gap.
Ransomware attacks during quiet periods
Ransomware groups favour times when businesses are slower to respond. Even a few hours’ delay in detection can make recovery much harder.
Simple steps to stay protected over the festive period
These are quick wins any SME can put in place before the break:
- Review staff access
Remove admin rights where they are not needed, disable old accounts, and ensure anyone providing holiday cover only has the minimum access required. - Check backups are running correctly
Make sure your email, OneDrive, SharePoint and Teams backups are up to date. A working backup transforms a crisis into an inconvenience. - Remind staff about suspicious emails
A quick internal note can prevent a lot of trouble. Encourage staff to pause and check links before clicking — especially unexpected Christmas-related emails. - Update all devices and software
If your team closes down early, ensure updates are complete before they log off for the holidays. - Consider 24/7 security monitoring
This is the most effective way to protect your business when no one is watching.
Why 24/7 monitoring matters more at Christmas
Most SMEs do not have a dedicated security team watching logs around the clock — especially over Christmas, when out-of-hours alerts may go unseen.
This is where Managed Detection & Response (MDR) comes into its own.
At WTS Systems, we provide Adlumin MDR, which offers:
- 24/7 monitoring by experienced analysts who detect threats in real time.
- Deep and dark-web monitoring, alerting you if your business accounts appear in a breach.
- Comprehensive response actions — not just alerts. Security experts take action directly from the platform to stop the threat.
- Clear reporting and recommendations, so you know what happened and what to improve.
- Visibility across network, cloud, endpoint and user accounts, giving full situational awareness.
During the festive period, when cyber criminals know teams are stretched, this constant oversight becomes invaluable.
A practical example
Imagine a phishing attack lands in an inbox on Christmas Eve.
If it slips past standard antivirus and no one is checking emails, it may lie unnoticed until January — giving attackers time to move laterally, steal data or encrypt systems.
With MDR in place, suspicious behaviour is detected immediately. Analysts investigate, contain the threat and stop it — even at 3am on Boxing Day. You return in January to business as usual.
This is the difference between a minor incident and a serious disruption.
Final thoughts
The festive season should be a chance to relax, not worry about what might be happening on your network while the office is quiet.
A few basic checks will go a long way, but if you want complete peace of mind, 24/7 monitoring through our Adlumin MDR service gives you real protection when you need it most.
Want your business protected over Christmas and into 2026?
If you would like us to review your security setup — or discuss adding Adlumin MDR, Microsoft 365 backup, or DNS filtering — we would be happy to help.
Just get in touch with the WTS Systems team.