Cybersecurity, the pandemic, and the 2021 Christmas season: a perfect storm

Since the Corona pandemic, threats from the cyber sector have increased enormously. Cybercrime continues to rise, and this can be seen particularly in relation to the 2021 Christmas season. These facts are underlined by various companies and statistics, for example, when it comes to typical antivirus programs and the like. In any case, there will continue to be problems in the supply chains, and the Christmas business will be affected.

Optimization of security architectures

Security architectures should therefore be urgently optimized; most systems are lagging behind. During the pandemic, and especially before the holiday season, more than 80% of the world's businesses were threatened by cyber criminals. Many consumers have certain expectations for the holiday shopping season. Criminals take advantage of this. Very often supply chains or employees are directly affected, and there is enormous pressure. Cyber attacks are multiplying.

During the corona pandemic, there were also increased threats in Germany that are directly related to cyber crime. One of the biggest threats is so-called phishing. Therefore, enterprise security technologies should be a priority in order to provide protection. This particularly applies to the peak phase of the Christmas business. It won't work without an intelligent security architecture, otherwise today's advanced threat landscape cannot be managed. Therefore, there is an enormous need for action.

Sectors particularly affected

There are sectors that are particularly hard hit by the situation. The willingness of consumers to spend more in the pre-Christmas period is almost 90% higher than normal. This also means that demand increases significantly. On the one hand, however, there is a lack of transport capacity, and on the other hand, a lack of manpower. The infrastructure is weakened, which in turn increases the surface area for criminals to attack.

The following sectors are particularly badly affected:

·       Travel industry
·       Retail and e-commerce
·       Logistics

How serious is the situation?

Many businesses did not prioritize protection enough during the threat phase. However, statistics and figures prove that it is very much necessary.