As businesses across South Wales prepare to slow down for Christmas, cyber-criminals ramp up. While your team enjoys a well-earned break, attackers see an opportunity, fewer staff online, quieter systems, slower responses.

At Quicksmart IT, we see this pattern every year. In fact, some studies show cyber-attacks on businesses increase by around 30% during  holidays like Christmas, when defences are naturally lower.

With reduced oversight, more remote logins, and seasonal phishing scams doing the rounds, the festive period can quickly become a hotspot for cyber-incidents. Below, we’ll walk you through the biggest risks and five practical steps to keep your business secure over the break.

The Cybersecurity Risks That Increase Over Christmas

Many threats are present year-round , they just spike at Christmas. Here’s what we help our clients prepare for:

1. Increased Fraud Attempts

Cybercriminals take advantage of stretched teams to create fake accounts, steal payment details, exploit outdated systems or test weak login credentials.

2. Phishing & Scam Emails

Fake delivery notices, invoice requests, refund claims, “year-end bonuses” scammers know exactly what people expect this time of year.

3. More Remote Working

Staff logging in from home networks or personal devices can unintentionally widen your attack surface.

4. Reduced IT Oversight

Fewer people monitoring systems means incidents take longer to spot, which is exactly what attackers rely on.

5. Ransomware Spikes

Historically, December sees a rise in ransomware attacks. Criminals know businesses are vulnerable and will pay to get back online quickly.

Carry Out A Penetration Test

A penetration test simulates a real cyber-attack on your environment to reveal vulnerabilities before criminals find them.

It can uncover issues such as:

• Outdated web apps
• Misconfigured firewalls
• Exposed login details
• Weak or reused passwords
• Missing MFA
• Open ports
• Unsecured third-party plugins
• Expired certificates
• Inactive accounts still holding permissions

These are exactly the things attackers scan for — especially at Christmas.

FACT: The average cost of a significant cyber-attack for a UK business is £195,000.  A pen test is a small investment compared to the cost of downtime, loss of data or reputational damage.

Review Your IT Policies Before Everyone Signs Off

A quick review of internal policies and procedures can highlight your most at-risk systems over the break.

Check:

• Which systems must remain online
• Who has admin rights
• Whether backups are up to date
• If third-party tools have appropriate access
• How incidents will be handled if something happens

You don’t need a full NIST risk assessment, even a simplified review gives peace of mind over Christmas.

Set Secure Out-Of-Office Replies

Out-of-office messages can accidentally give away sensitive information — job roles, personal numbers, even hints about who handles payments.

Keep it simple and avoid oversharing:

“Thanks for your email. Our team is away for the festive break and will respond after [date]. For urgent enquiries, please contact [generic/team inbox].”

Attackers use detailed OOO replies for spear-phishing. Don’t give them the helping hand.

Enable Automatic Software Updates

Unpatched software remains one of the biggest causes of business breaches. Attackers actively scan the internet for systems running outdated versions.

Make sure:

• Operating systems auto-update
• VPNs and email platforms are fully patched
• Security tools like anti-malware and EDR are up to date
• Staff devices aren’t ignoring update prompts

FACT: 60% of breaches are linked to unpatched vulnerabilities. Don’t let this be the reason your Christmas gets interrupted.

Monitor For Unusual Activity

Even with a reduced team, someone needs to be keeping an eye on your IT environment.

Watch for:

• Repeated failed logins
• Logins from unusual locations
• Out-of-hours activity
• Unrecognised devices
• Disabled security tools
• Sudden admin access
• Unexpected system changes

You don’t need a full SOC,  but you do need a plan and clear responsibilities.

(If you want 24/7 monitoring, Quicksmart can provide that too.)

If you want peace of mind heading into the Christmas break, now is the time to act, not when something has already gone wrong.

Let’s get your business protected.