Holiday Season Security: A Playbook for SMBs

Phishing. Travel. BYOD. Why year-end is your business’s most vulnerable time—and how to defend it.

‘Tis the Season—for Cybercrime

For most businesses, the holidays bring a welcome slowdown. PTO calendars fill up, devices leave the office, and attention shifts to year-end closeouts. For cybercriminals, it’s the busiest time of year.

Threat actors know that small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) operate with limited IT resources—especially in December. They exploit this by ramping up phishing campaigns, targeting remote workers, and taking advantage of devices that slip through policy gaps. And it works: in 2024, U.S. businesses lost $16.6 billion to cybercrime, according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Report—a 33% increase over the prior year. Phishing, business email compromise (BEC), and ransomware remain the top threats, many of them timed around holidays, travel, and payroll deadlines. (2024_IC3Report.pdf)

If you think your company is “too small to be a target,” think again. Cybercriminals don’t care about your size. They care about access—and in Q4, distracted employees and unmonitored systems make it easier than ever.

This guide gives SMB leaders and IT teams a practical security playbook built around the three biggest holiday risk areas: Phishing, Travel, and BYOD. Let’s break down the threats—and the moves you can make right now to stay secure through the new year.

1. Phishing and BEC: The Q4 Spike

The problem: Fake invoices. Spoofed gift card requests. “Urgent” year-end payroll changes. During November and December, attackers take advantage of the holiday rush and seasonal themes to slip phishing emails past distracted employees. The FBI warns that business email compromise (BEC) attacks increase around the holidays, often targeting finance or HR staff with requests that appear time-sensitive and legitimate (FBI Holiday Scams).

What to do now:

• Require phishing-resistant MFA, like passkeys or FIDO2 tokens. As an interim step, use number-matching push notifications (CISA Guide).

• Block legacy authentication (used in 99%+ of password-spray attacks) with Microsoft Entra ID (Microsoft Docs).

• Turn on Safe Links and Safe Attachments in Microsoft Defender for Office 365 to proactively scan links and files.

• Train your team to verify all financial or login-related requests through a separate communication channel—never by replying to the original email.

• Send a phishing refresher using real FTC and CISA examples of holiday scams (FTC Alert).

TEC Tip: Pre-approve workflows and vendors for gift purchases, reimbursements, or end-of-year payouts. When everyone knows the process, it’s harder for fraud to sneak through.

2. Travel Security: Weak Links on the Move

The problem: Holiday travel creates perfect conditions for a breach: unattended laptops, public Wi-Fi, hotel room snooping, and mobile devices that aren’t properly secured. CISA, the FBI, and the NSA all advise heightened caution during business travel—especially for employees handling sensitive data (CISA Travel Security).

What to do now:

• Send a Travel Security Checklist with PTO approvals. Include advice on patching devices, using VPNs, and disabling auto-join for Wi-Fi.

• Ban public USB charging (aka “juice jacking”); encourage employees to carry wall chargers or power banks.

• Enforce encryption and lock screens on all mobile and laptop devices.

• Push a travel MDM profile with VPN enforcement, shorter lock timeouts, and disabled wireless sharing (AirDrop/Nearby Share).

• For international travel, issue loaner devices and wipe them after return.

TEC Tip: Assume any device used in a hotel or airport could be accessed by others. If it’s not encrypted and trackable, it’s not ready for travel.

3. BYOD and Holiday Hardware: The Shadow IT Problem

The problem: New phones and tablets are a common holiday gift—but many employees will connect them to work apps without IT visibility. Unmanaged personal devices often lack encryption, use outdated OS versions, or share login sessions with family members.

NIST’s guidance is clear: secure BYOD policies require enrollment, access controls, and revocation capabilities (NIST SP 800-124 Rev. 2).

What to do now:

• Require MDM/EMM enrollment before any device accesses business apps.

• Block rooted/jailbroken devices, enforce OS version minimums, and ensure screen lock + encryption are active.

• Use Android Work Profile or Apple User Enrollment to separate work and personal data (Android Guide, Apple Guide).

• Enable remote wipe of corporate data containers only.

• Update your BYOD policy and circulate it with year-end HR reminders.

TEC Tip: Include BYOD re-enrollment in your December checklist. If employees want mobile access to work apps in January, they’ll need to be compliant now.

The Holiday Security Game Plan: 10 SMB Must-Dos

1. Enable phishing-resistant MFA (or app-based with number matching).

2. Block legacy authentication across all Microsoft 365 services.

3. Activate Safe Links and Safe Attachments in Defender for Office 365.

4. Run a holiday-themed phishing simulation or awareness campaign.

5. Require out-of-band confirmation for payments, gift cards, or vendor changes.

6. Share a Travel Security Checklist before employees go OOO.

7. Push a hardened “travel mode” configuration via your MDM.

8. Enforce BYOD enrollment and separation of work/personal data.

9. Confirm backups are working, retrievable, and monitored during PTO.

10. Bookmark ic3.gov for fast cybercrime reporting.

Peace of Mind for the Holidays

Security incidents that happen in December often don’t show up until January. The inbox that gets phished today becomes the compromised account next quarter. A few smart controls and habits can help you avoid cleanup work—and costly breaches—when you return from break.

TEC Services Can Help

Whether you need a fast policy refresh or hands-on help with security settings, TEC is ready:

• 365 Security Tune-Up: MFA, Safe Links, Conditional Access

• BYOD & Travel Templates: NIST-aligned, staff-ready

• Year-End Risk Reviews: Fast assessments before the OOO season starts

📩 info@tecsinc.com | 📞 (630) 305-7486 | 🌐 tecsinc.com

280 Shuman Blvd. #230, Naperville, IL 60563

Let’s make sure your team’s only holiday surprise is a good one. 🎯