Did you know that 86% of all successful ransomware victims are targeted on weekends or holidays?
For Cybercriminals, Your Long Weekend Is Prime Time
That feeling of logging off for a long holiday weekend, pure relief, right? A moment to unplug and recharge. But for cybercriminals, it’s not a break; it’s the perfect opportunity. They view these quiet periods, from a three-day weekend to a full holiday shutdown, as the attractive timeframes to launch their most damaging campaigns, according to advisories from the FBI and CISA.
The truth is, while your team is enjoying their well-deserved time off, your organization is at its highest point of cyber risk.
The Data Doesn’t Lie: Why Attackers Choose Off-Hours
The overwhelming evidence confirms that cyber attackers are deliberately timing their actions for when organizations are least prepared. It’s a strategic business decision for them.
The 86% Problem: Ransomware’s Favorite Time Slot
- A 2024 industry study by Semperis, cited by CBS News, found that an overwhelming 86 percent of ransomware victims were successfully targeted on weekends or holidays.
- The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the FBI have repeatedly warned that these periods are viewed as the most advantageous for intrusion. Attackers know that if they gain access on Friday evening, they have 48 to 72 hours of unsupervised access to your network.
Reduced SOC Staffing Is an Open Door
The primary reason for this vulnerability is simple human nature: security staffing drops sharply when regular employees are off duty. Cybercriminals are banking on your team being slow to notice or respond.
According to the same Semperis research, 85 percent of organizations with 24/7 Security Operations Centers (SOCs) deliberately reduce staffing by as much as half on weekends or holidays.
This reduction creates a critical “Golden Window” for attackers:
- Fewer Eyeballs on Dashboards: Subtle warning signals are more likely to be missed.
- Slower Response Times: Even if an intrusion is detected, it takes longer for defenders to assess the scope and mount an effective response.
- The Attacker’s Advantage: As former National Cyber Director Chris Inglis once warned, by understaffing during these high-risk periods, “the advantage goes to the attacker, because they’re not taking a day off.”
The Cyberattacker’s ‘Holiday Strategy’
Attackers don’t just rely on reduced staffing; they exploit the psychological and operational shifts that occur during these periods.
Escalation and Propagation Time
Ransomware, the most common threat in these attacks, is not instantaneous. It often takes hours to propagate across a network, escalate privileges, and encrypt critical systems.
- When a weekend or holiday attack is launched, the delay in detection gives the threat actor the maximum amount of time to perform damage, meaning they can go undetected long enough to find and encrypt your most vital data stores before a remedy is even considered.
- The painful proof: Ransom notes frequently spike on Monday mornings, after victims return from the long break to find their systems locked down.
The Surge in Phishing and Social Engineering
While major organizational breaches involve sophisticated tools, the initial access often relies on human error, which is amplified during downtime.
- Consumer Scams: During the major holiday shopping season, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) sees a significant correlation between shopping activities and non-payment/non-delivery scam complaints reported in the early months of the following year. This shows a massive surge in scams targeting individuals when their guard is down.
- Employee Vulnerability: Employees are more relaxed and distracted over holidays, making them more susceptible to well-timed long-tail phishing campaigns targeting personal devices or accounts linked to corporate resources.
WIDECLOUD’s 2025 Checklist: Three Steps to Holiday Cyber Resilience
You cannot eliminate holidays, but you can eliminate the risk they bring. Shifting your security strategy to anticipate these off-hours threats is essential for modern cyber defense.
Here is WIDECLOUD’s checklist for securing your organization against cyber threats spiking during holidays:
1. Mandate True 24/7/365 Coverage (Automated First)
Relying solely on human analysts when they’ve had their staffing cut by 50% is a risk no business should take.
- Action: Implement automated detection and response (MDR/XDR) platforms that can instantly isolate compromised endpoints and mitigate known threats without human intervention.
2. Patch, Test, and Back Up BEFORE the Break
The days leading up to a holiday are not a time for complacency. They are the most crucial time to secure your environment.
- Action: Ensure all critical patches and software updates are deployed and verified. Crucially, verify your off-site, air-gapped backups are current and fully functional. If the worst happens, a clean, tested backup is your fastest route to recovery.
3. Reinforce Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Across the Board
Since credential theft is the core of most breaches, MFA remains your most effective layer of human defense.
- Action: Verify that MFA is enforced not just for email, but for all remote access points, VPNs, cloud portals, and privileged accounts. A stronger lock on the front door means attackers can’t walk in unopposed.
Cyber Threats Don’t Take a Holiday
WIDECLOUD specializes in delivering the kind of next-generation, 24/7 managed security solutions that don’t take a day off. We help you stay vigilant so you and your team can truly rest easy.
Don’t leave your organization vulnerable during this holiday season. Contact WIDECLOUD today for a free Holiday Risk Assessment and discover how our managed security services can ensure you’re never part of the 86% statistic.
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