CYBER CRIMINALS DON’T TAKE SUMMER HOLIDAYS: WHY AUGUST CAN LEAVE BUSINESSES EXPOSED

HOTEL WI-FI, ABSENT BOSSES AND THIN IT TEAMS: THE SUMMER CYBER RISKS FACING UK BUSINESSES

Staff holidays, remote working and reduced IT cover can create a potent combination of cyber security vulnerabilities. Connectus Business Solutions CEO Roy Shelton warns that attackers can exploit the summer slowdown — and says some of the biggest risks begin with everyday working habits rather than sophisticated hacking.

For many businesses, August brings a familiar change of pace. Employees head on holiday, senior decision-makers become harder to reach and those still working may find themselves logging in from hotels, cafés, airports or temporary locations.

Cyber criminals can exploit exactly the same conditions.

One survey of organisations across the UK, US, France and Germany found that 86% of those hit by ransomware said the attack occurred over a weekend or public holiday. Major ransomware incidents have also been deliberately launched during holiday periods, a pattern significant enough to prompt warnings from US cyber security authorities.

For attackers, knowing when an organisation’s normal decision-makers, security specialists or IT personnel are unavailable can potentially be as useful as identifying a technical weakness.

Why Summer Can Change A Company’s Risk Profile

Connectus Business Solutions CEO Roy Shelton says many companies encounter a similar collection of operational pressures during the summer.

Annual leave creates temporary cover arrangements. Responsibilities may be transferred to colleagues who do not usually perform them. Employees work remotely from unfamiliar locations, while senior executives who would normally authorise or challenge an unusual request may be difficult to contact.

“Cyber criminals plan around the calendar just like the rest of us. The difference is that August can be their busy season,” said Shelton.

“An out-of-office reply can tell an attacker exactly who is away and when they will be back, while the colleague you would normally sanity-check something with might be sitting on a beach. The technology hasn’t changed, but your safety net has.”

The vulnerability, therefore, is not necessarily a new piece of malicious technology. It can be a temporary weakening of the human and operational controls surrounding existing systems.

Hotel Wi-Fi And The Risks Of Working Anywhere

Hybrid and remote working have made it possible for employees to remain productive from almost anywhere. But working from an airport lounge, hotel or café can introduce risks that may be less prevalent inside a controlled corporate environment.

Public Wi-Fi can expose users to malicious or spoofed networks. Devices may be left unattended or unlocked, while important software updates can be postponed because an employee is travelling or rushing to complete work before a holiday.

Phishing and payment fraud can also be timed to exploit the absence of colleagues who would ordinarily verify an unusual request.

Reduced staffing can compound the problem by creating monitoring gaps, potentially allowing suspicious activity to remain unnoticed for longer.

“Most summer incidents don’t start with anything sophisticated,” Shelton said. “They start with a laptop on hotel Wi-Fi, an update postponed until after the flight, or an urgent payment approved from a sun lounger because the boss couldn’t be reached.”

Five Ways Businesses Can Reduce Summer Cyber Risk

Shelton recommends five relatively straightforward precautions for businesses and employees working away from their normal environment.

1. Treat public Wi-Fi as public

Employees should remember that hotel, café and airport networks are shared environments. Where possible, Shelton recommends using a mobile hotspot or company VPN rather than connecting directly to an unfamiliar network.

2. Keep devices physically and digitally secure

Laptops and smartphones should have strong passwords, PINs or biometric protection. Full-disk encryption should be enabled where appropriate, with devices configured to lock automatically after a short period of inactivity.

Physical security matters too. An unattended laptop or unlocked smartphone can create a vulnerability regardless of the sophistication of the organisation’s wider cyber defences.

3. Be particularly alert to phishing

Employees checking messages quickly between meetings, flights or family activities may have less time to scrutinise unexpected requests.

Links and attachments deserve particular attention when a message creates urgency or appears out of character. Unusual payment or access requests should be independently verified, preferably through another communication channel such as a telephone call.

4. Install updates before travelling

Software updates are easy to postpone when employees are trying to complete work before leaving the office.

Where practical, businesses should enable automatic updates and ensure devices are fully patched before employees travel rather than expecting outstanding security updates to be managed while they are away.

5. Plan For Reduced Cover

Companies should consider not only how many employees will be absent but which responsibilities disappear with them.

Clear escalation procedures, technical support and proactive monitoring can help prevent reduced internal staffing from turning into reduced cyber security coverage.

Cyber Security Cannot Go On Holiday

The wider lesson, according to Connectus, is that cyber security needs to operate continuously even when the business itself enters a quieter period.

Attackers can exploit predictable human behaviour: hurried decisions, absent managers, unfamiliar networks and gaps in normal approval procedures.

For SMEs in particular, where responsibility for technology or financial approvals may be concentrated among a relatively small number of people, holiday cover can therefore become a business continuity issue as much as an IT concern.

“The businesses that come through the summer unscathed are often the ones that have treated these basics as routine rather than optional,” Shelton said.

“Proactive monitoring, secure connectivity and having a team watching the network when your own people are out of the office can make a significant difference.”