Cybersecurity Check-Up: Preparing Your Business for Holiday Season Threats

The holidays are a time for family, celebrations, and excitement. But as businesses gear up for the season, cyber threats often escalate alongside the festivities. With the growing reliance on technology—whether through point-of-sale (POS) systems for brick-and-mortar stores or the exponential growth of e-commerce—cybercriminals see an opportunity to strike. Adding to this is the stress of increased workloads, creating an environment ripe for cyberattacks.

This blog isn’t about overhauling your entire cybersecurity framework or designing new scenarios for holiday-specific risks. Instead, it’s a call to revisit, refine, and strengthen the plans you already have in place.

Why Holiday Cybersecurity Matters

For retailers and manufacturers, the holiday season is a time of opportunity—and vulnerability. Cyber incidents during this period can have devastating impacts. To help your organization prepare, consider these critical questions:

Retailers

• Do you have incident response (IR) plans or scenarios for disruptions to your POS systems?
• What if your inventory management system is compromised, halting the flow of goods between warehouses, stores, and online orders?
• Have you considered the impact of a ransomware attack on your accounting software, delaying payments and revenue recognition?

Manufacturers

• Are you ready for a ransomware event that could halt production?
• Do you have modeled scenarios addressing these disruptions?
• How would an attack on your accounting software affect receivables and payables?

Reviewing and Refining Cybersecurity Plans

Once you’ve identified your critical scenarios, it’s time to update and enhance them. Quantifying scenarios allows you to weigh potential costs against your risk tolerance, helping you make informed decisions about mitigation efforts. With the holiday season fast approaching, ensuring your information is current is key to effective preparation.

Key Steps to Refine Your Plans

1. Review and Update Variables
   • Verify that all variables, such as revenue, hourly rates for external services (e.g., IR firms, legal, PR), and employee numbers, are up-to-date.
   • Assess whether newly implemented controls have reduced the potential impact of scenarios.
   • Recalculate the expected impact based on updated data.
2. Evaluate Insurance Coverage
   • Review your cyber and physical insurance policies to understand their coverage for these scenarios.
   • Ensure alignment between your policies and the risks you face, making adjustments if necessary.
3. Align Incident Response (IR) Plans
   • Reassess your IR plans to ensure they reflect changes in your quantified scenarios.
   • Adjust roles, timelines, or priorities as needed to account for updated impacts.
4. Revisit Communication Strategies
   • Include robust communication plans in your IR strategy to address stakeholders like customers and vendors effectively.
   • Clear communication during a crisis can help maintain trust and even provide breathing room for certain transactions.
   • Incorporate lessons from past tabletop exercises to refine your approach further.
5. Ensure Financial Preparedness
   • After updating variables and insurance, determine if the total impact is within acceptable limits.
   • If not, focus on immediate, actionable steps: review insurance options, allocate emergency funds, test backups, and strengthen containment and recovery processes.

A Holiday Readiness Reminder

The holiday season isn’t the time to implement major new initiatives. Instead, focus on what’s already in place. Review your plans, test them, and ensure they’re ready to be deployed. By taking these proactive steps, you’ll not only protect your business but also set the stage for a more secure and successful holiday season.

Ready to Assess Your Cybersecurity Program?

If you’d like to evaluate your current cyber risk strategies, schedule a consultation with one of our experts today.