It’s officially summer and naturally employees will take more holidays and time off work compared to other seasons. What does this mean for business owners? As people take time off work, they become lazy when it comes to security policies which puts you at risk for cybersecurity threats.

Here are the top reasons why summer holidays can put your business at risk for a cyber attack and what you can do to prevent cybersecurity threats:

Remote access from unsecure Wi-Fi networks

A lot of people who take extended time off work feel the pressure to check and respond to emails while they are away. Unfortunately, they may be using an unsecure Wi-Fi network to check emails or gain access to shared drives and files, which can put your business at risk for a cyber attack.

As a business owner, you should discourage employees from working while on holidays, and make sure they don’t feel pressured by you or others in the company to respond to emails while away. Some employees might still feel tempted to check emails so they aren’t behind when they come back. You can solve this problem by offering training that helps employees learn how to prepare their workload before leaving for an extended period of time, and making sure other employees take on some of their responsibilities while they are away.

Taking company-owned devices on trips and vacations

Working from company-owned devices while on vacation is another risk that businesses face when its employees work on vacation. Something as simple as plugging in a smart phone or laptop at the airport can put data in the hands of hackers.

With an increasing amount of people travelling for business purposes and working while travelling, hackers are actively targeting devices at airports. Make sure you develop IT and business security practices that outline the limitations of how and where employees can use company-owned devices.

Less staff means fewer people are monitoring cybersecurity threats

Since summer is the most popular time of the year for holidays, you’ll have less staff during other times of the year. If you have IT professionals on staff, make sure you have adequate coverage while they’re away. By outsourcing some of your IT service, you’ll ensure coverage while IT staff are on holidays, resulting in less cybersecurity threats.

Not only are there less people to monitor what’s going on in the IT world of your company, but employees are likely taking on more responsibilities while their coworkers are away. As employees take on more tasks, something has to give, and it’s usually security policies. While these policies can take a bit of extra time, they’re vital to protecting your business and data, and ultimately preventing cybersecurity threats.

It’s important to teach your employees how to balance the pressures of extra work while still maintaining the company IT policies. Interested in learning more? Read more in our article on how to balance IT security and employee productivity.

Worried about cyber attacks this summer? Send us a message – we’d be happy to chat and find a solution for your business.