That’s the word of caution from Preston Soobramoney, head of cybersecurity at Old Mutual. Cyberthreats increase significantly towards the end of the year, with a notable uptick in activity expected around major retail events like Black Friday and continuing through the holiday season. Soobramoney explains that the surge in online shopping and holiday-related communications provides more opportunities for cybercriminals to exploit.
“The attack surface just widens exponentially. I would think easily 100% to 200%,” he says. In cybersecurity, an attack surface is the sum of all potential entry points and vulnerabilities where an attacker can gain unauthorised access to a system or data.
At the same time, certain vulnerabilities become easier to target. Attackers focus on times when businesses and individuals might have reduced staffing, due to holidays, potentially leading to slower detection and response times. During the festive season, people are less guarded and value convenience over security.
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Attackers exploit urgency, curiosity, and the rush to find deals, Soobramoney notes. Common methods of attack include “smishing”, where SMS scams are used, often regarding fake parcel deliveries, phishing through emails, and fake sellers on platforms like Facebook Marketplace. Despite rapid advancements in technology, the methods of attack have long stayed the same.
The change has been in the channels and tools used, Soobramoney says. In that same vein, human error continues to be the biggest vulnerability that criminals exploit. “Humans will always value convenience over security,” he says. “95% [or maybe slightly less] of security breaches in this day and age are caused by human error.”
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