“It came without ribbons; it came without tags. It came without packages, boxes, or bags.” - The Grinch

Yes, the Grinch was referencing Christmas… but the same can be said for ransomware, phishing emails, and scams. The holidays are a season of joy, but also a season of opportunity… for cybercriminals.

During the height of last year’s holiday gifting season, Krispy Kreme’s online ordering system was disrupted by a cyberattack, leaving customers unable to place pickup or delivery orders nationwide. Stores scrambled to serve only walk-in customers during one of their busiest times of year… losing sales, frustrating customers, and damaging their reputation.

While your business may be running on lighter staff, and your team focused on year-end goals… attackers take advantage of the distractions, the surge in online activity, and the high stakes of holiday revenue.

This is our first quarterly threat assessment, and we’re starting with one of the most high-risk periods of the year: the holiday season.

The Holiday Threat Landscape

So, why are the holidays such a prime time for cyberattacks? A few big reasons:

• Increased transactions: December means a surge of online shopping, shipping updates, and digital gift cards. For attackers, that’s a buffet of opportunities, everything from fake package tracking emails to cloned checkout pages designed to skim customer payment data.

• Reduced staff coverage: Let’s be honest, when your IT person is out on holiday break, you don’t have the same safety net. A phishing email or suspicious login attempt that might normally get flagged can slip through unnoticed when fewer eyes are on the system.

• Emotional lures: The holidays are stressful, joyful, and busy all at once. That’s exactly why phishing scams spike. Whether it’s a fake “missed delivery” notice or a fraudulent charity plea, criminals know that holiday urgency and generosity make people more likely to click without thinking.

• High business pressure: In December, every sale counts. That’s why ransomware crews love this season because they know the threat of downtime during your busiest weekend is more powerful leverage than at any other time of year.

Put simply: the very things that make December magical for small businesses (e.g. high demand, emotional customers, and nonstop transactions) also make it the month cybercriminals wait for all year. And the truth is, it often takes just one distracted click on a phishing email or fake shipping notice to give attackers the foothold they need to launch a larger attack.

Case Studies: Holiday Cyber Threats in Action

So what do these holiday-season cyberattacks actually look like? Here are the most common and costly scenarios small businesses face every December:

📧Threat #1: Holiday Phishing Lures

Your inbox floods with “Amazon order confirmations,” “FedEx shipping delays,” and “year-end invoices.” These aren’t just annoying spam, they’re carefully designed phishing emails that trick employees into handing over passwords or clicking malware-laced links.

The Takeaway: Make sure your team knows the signs (e.g. bad grammar, urgent wording, strange sender addresses) and encourage them to report suspicious messages immediately. Ignoring them isn’t harmless; one careless click can open the door for a full-scale attack.

🎁Threat #2: Gift Card & Bonus Scams

Picture this: it’s 4:30 p.m. on the Friday before Christmas, and an employee gets a text from “the CEO” asking them to urgently buy $1,000 in gift cards for client gifts. In the rush of the season, many don’t stop to question it.

The Takeaway: Set clear policies for how financial requests are handled, and remind staff that leadership will never ask for gift cards or urgent payments by text or email.

💻 Threat #3: Ransomware Over Long Weekends

Attackers love to strike when defenses are down (e.g. long weekends, holiday breaks, late nights). A ransomware infection that begins Friday evening can sit undetected until Monday, locking down critical systems when your team is least prepared.

The Takeaway: Test your incident response plan, especially for after-hours. Make sure backups are not only up-to-date but isolated, so attackers can’t encrypt them too.

🤖Threat #4: AI-Generated Phishing Emails

Cybercriminals are now using AI tools to create flawless phishing emails, no more broken English or awkward formatting that gives them away. Imagine a holiday promotion email that looks exactly like it came from a brand your business actually uses complete with your name, purchase history references, and realistic graphics. One click on the fake “holiday discount link,” and your employee unknowingly hands over credentials or downloads malware.

The Takeaway: Train staff that even polished, professional-looking emails can be malicious. Reinforce a simple rule: never log in through links in emails, always go directly to the website.

🎙️Threat #5: Voice Deepfake Scams

We’re starting to see attackers use AI-generated audio to mimic executives. Picture this: your finance manager gets a voicemail that sounds exactly like your CEO, asking them to quickly transfer funds for “year-end bonuses” before payroll deadlines. In the rush of December, it feels urgent and legitimate.

The Takeaway: Establish strict policies for approving payments or bonuses. No voice message, email, or text, no matter how real it seems, should ever override those checks.

📑Threat #6: Vendor & Supplier Fraud

The year-end season is when invoices are flying fast. Attackers know this and slip in fraudulent invoices disguised as regular vendor communications. A fake “December billing statement” or “updated bank account details” can easily trick an accounts payable clerk in the holiday rush. One mistyped payment later, and funds are gone for good.

The Takeaway: Double-check all vendor payment details, especially if you receive last-minute “changes.” A quick phone call to a known contact can prevent a costly mistake.

💰Threat #7: Payroll Banking Info Update Scams

This scam hits hard during December, when employees are focused on holiday expenses and year-end paychecks. Attackers pose as employees; often by compromising an email account or spoofing an address; and send HR or payroll a “new” bank account number for direct deposit. By the time the real employee notices they never got paid, the funds have already been siphoned into a criminal’s account.

The Takeway: Set a strict process for payroll changes. Require in-person or verified phone confirmation before updating any employee banking details. Email requests alone should never be accepted.

Simple Recommendations for This Holiday Season

You don’t need a huge security budget to make a big difference in December. A few proactive steps can drastically reduce your risk while your business is running at full speed:

1. Enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA)
If attackers steal a password (and during the holidays, phishing attempts spike), MFA is the safety net that stops them from logging in. Make sure it’s turned on for email, payroll, and any system that touches money.

2. Harden your email defenses
Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC (they’re like ID checks for email) to help block spoofed messages pretending to come from your domain. If you don’t know whether these are in place, ask your IT provider to confirm—it’s one of the simplest ways to cut down on holiday phishing.

3. Remind your staff about holiday scam red flags
Scammers prey on urgency and generosity this time of year. Send a quick team-wide note with reminders: don’t click unexpected links, verify strange requests, and when in doubt—ask before acting.

4. Confirm your emergency escalation path
If something happens on Christmas Eve, who answers the call? Make sure you know who to reach, and that your staff knows too. A clear escalation path means you don’t lose precious hours figuring it out mid-crisis.

5. Run a holiday tabletop exercise
Pick a scenario—like a ransomware attack or a gift card scam—and walk your team through what they’d do. Who would they call? What systems would they check? A one-hour tabletop drill now can prevent days of chaos later.

Additional Resources

If you’d like to dive deeper into the types of threats we highlighted, the following trusted resources provide practical, up-to-date guidance from federal agencies and industry experts. These are great to share with your team to reinforce awareness during the holiday season and beyond.

CISA: Cybersecurity Alerts & Advisories

CISA’s official website publishes a variety of timely cybersecurity notifications - ranging from brief Alerts to comprehensive Advisories, ICS advisories, and in-depth Analysis Reports.

Why it’s useful: This page is a go-to resource for cybersecurity professionals and small business leaders seeking authoritative, up-to-date intelligence and actionable defense guidance directly from the U.S. government.

FBI - Common Holiday Scams and How to Spot Them

This scams and safety page provides a broad, easy-to-navigate overview of common frauds - spanning phishing, business email compromise, elder scams, romance fraud, spoofing, skimming, and more - along with clear guidance on how to spot them and where to report incidents.

Why it’s useful: This resource empowers businessleaders and teams with readily accessible, authoritative scam insights and real-world examples, so your staff can stay alert to varied holiday-themed threats and know exactly how to respond if targeted.

Krispy Kreme Cyberattack Coverage (Dec 2024)

Here’s the Wall Street Journal article providing plenty of details regarding the Krispy Kreme cyberattack described at the beginning of the newsletter. They detected unauthorized activity in their IT systems on November 29, 2024 - just ahead of its high-profile “Day of the Dozens” promotion.

Why it’s useful: This case delivers a clear, real-world example of how cyber threats timed to high-traffic holidays can disrupt revenue-driving services - even without data theft - highlighting the need for resilient backup systems and communications plans in SMB operational strategies.

Cocktail & Song Pairing

Every issue, we wind down with a curated cocktail and song - something to sip, something to vibe to, and maybe a little something to reflect on. This month’s pairing is inspired by the tension, the twist, and the bounce-back.

Until NEX Time…

The holiday season should be about celebration - not cyber disruption. By learning from these cases and staying proactive, businesses can protect both their bottom line and their reputation.

Thanks for joining us on this month’s journey to the NEX Level. We hope it left you a little smarter, a little sharper, and maybe even a little inspired to take action.

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Stay curious, stay resilient, and keep leveling up!