Holiday Cybersecurity: How to Keep Your NZ Business Safe During the Festive Season

Holiday Cybersecurity

How to Keep Your NZ Business Safe During the Festive Season

The holiday season is a time for rest, celebration, and well-earned downtime – but for cybercriminals, it’s one of the busiest times of the year. Across New Zealand, businesses face increased cybersecurity risks during December as staff take leave, workloads shift, and vigilance drops.

Holiday cybersecurity incidents often involve phishing scams, compromised email accounts, stolen devices, and insecure remote access. Just one click on a malicious link can result in data breaches, financial loss, and serious reputational damage.

Here’s how your organisation can strengthen its holiday cybersecurity posture and stay protected throughout the festive season.

1.Beware of Holiday-Themed Phishing Scams

Phishing attacks spike during the festive period as attackers exploit holiday shopping, delivery notifications, and charity appeals. Emails offering gift cards, fake invoices, or urgent “package delivery issues” are common and often appear highly legitimate.

Why this matters:

  • Staff are distracted and more likely to click without verifying
  • Attackers rely on urgency and seasonal pressure
  • One compromised account can lead to ransomware or data theft

Cybersecurity tips for staff:

  • Hover over links before clicking and verify sender addresses
  • Never share passwords or MFA codes via email
  • Report suspicious emails immediately

Extra protection:
Implement advanced email filtering, DMARC/DKIM policies, and attachment sandboxing to reduce spoofed and malicious emails.

2.Secure Remote Work and Holiday Travel

Remote work and holiday travel significantly increase cybersecurity risks. Public Wi-Fi networks, shared devices, and unsecured connections are common attack vectors, especially when staff are travelling or working from home.

Best practices for secure remote access:

  • Require VPN use for all remote connections
  • Enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA) on all systems
  • Ensure all devices are encrypted and fully patched

Physical security matters too:

Never leave laptops or work bags in vehicles – theft rates increase during holiday shopping periods. A stolen, unprotected device can quickly become a data breach.

Bonus tip:
Enable remote wipe for company devices so data can be erased if a device is lost or stolen.

3.Keep Cybersecurity Top-of-Mind During the Holidays

The festive season can reduce security awareness, but small reminders go a long way in preventing costly mistakes.

Simple engagement ideas:

  • Send a short “Holiday Cyber Safety” email series
  • Use quizzes or small incentives to keep staff engaged
  • Remind teams about social engineering attacks

Attackers often impersonate managers, suppliers, or payroll teams during busy periods – especially around year-end processing.

Why this works:
Frequent, simple reminders help staff stay alert without adding stress during an already busy time.

4.Strengthen Password Security

Weak passwords remain one of the most common causes of cybersecurity incidents. During the holidays, distracted staff may reuse passwords or choose easy-to-remember options – making attackers’ jobs easier.

What makes a strong password?

  • At least 12 characters long
  • A mix of uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols
  • No common words or predictable sequences

Avoid using:

  • Children’s names
  • Partner or pet names
  • Birthdays or anniversaries

Pro tip:
Use a password manager to generate and securely store complex passwords.

Extra layer:
Enable MFA wherever possible – even if a password is compromised, MFA can stop unauthorised access.

5.Looking Ahead: Cybersecurity Trends for 2026

Cybersecurity continues to evolve, and businesses should start planning now for the year ahead.

Key trends to watch:

  • AI-driven security tools for faster threat detection
  • Zero Trust security frameworks, especially for hybrid work
  • Cloud-first strategies for resilience and scalability

Action step:
Start planning your Zero Trust journey and review AI-based threat detection solutions early in 2026 to stay ahead of emerging threats.

Final Note

From all of us at Enform NZ, we wish you a safe, secure, and happy holiday season. With the right preparation, your business can enjoy the festive break without compromising security.

Stay vigilant, protect your data, and let’s make 2026 a year of strong cybersecurity.

Need help securing your business over the holidays?

Talk to Enform NZ about cybersecurity assessments, MFA rollout, email protection, and Zero Trust planning before your year-end shutdown.