The holidays are a time to slow down, reconnect, and recharge, but cyber threats don't take time off. While many teams are on vacation or operating with reduced staff, attackers see opportunity in distracted users, rushed processes, and unattended systems.
That’s why JANUS Associates created a special holiday video based on a Christmas poem written by our CEO in 1995, reimagining “’Twas the Night Before Christmas”, this time in cyberspace. The story captures a simple truth: with the right controls, monitoring, and partners in place, organizations can enjoy the season knowing their data and operations are protected. Scroll Down to Watch the Video
Cybercriminals Love the Holiday Season
From a threat actor’s perspective, December is prime time. Common patterns include:
- Increased phishing and social engineering using fake shipping notices, “holiday deals,” and spoofed charity appeals.
- Ransomware, data exfiltration, and account‑takeover attempts are timed for late nights, weekends, and company shutdowns when detection and response may be slower.
- Exploitation of unpatched systems and unresolved cloud misconfigurations as teams rush to close out the year.
For regulated and high‑risk sectors (such as financial services, healthcare, government, legal, and critical infrastructure), the impact of a single incident can be especially severe, affecting service delivery, compliance status, and stakeholder trust. A holiday incident can quickly become a New Year's crisis.
For a deeper dive into how year‑end gratitude and cyber readiness go hand‑in‑hand, explore our recent post, “Giving Thanks for Cybersecurity: Protecting Your Organization,” which highlights why the holidays are prime time for attackers and why proactive defenses matter. CISA’s free “Secure Our World” guidance gives your team quick access to practical, government authored checklists and user‑friendly cybersecurity tips to share with employees, family, and friends.
Practical Holiday Cybersecurity Checklist
To help your team prepare, consider these best‑practice steps before your next holiday shutdown:
- Review access and disable stale accounts
Validate users whose roles have changed, left the organization, or completed contract work to confirm that they no longer have elevated access to systems. - Apply patches and update configurations
Ensure all systems, including internet-facing applications, VPNs, identity providers, and cloud instances, receive security updates before holiday staffing reductions take effect. - Tighten remote access and MFA
Confirm multi‑factor authentication is enforced for remote and privileged access, and that temporary exceptions are removed before year‑end. - Review and update your incident response plan (IRP)
Ensure on‑call rotations, escalation paths, and decision‑makers are current, clearly documented and reachable even during holidays. - Communicate targeted awareness reminders
Send short, timely reminders about phishing, holiday scams, and safe use of personal devices connecting to corporate resources.
For many organizations, these practices also support compliance obligations under frameworks and regulations such as NIST CSF, HIPAA, PCI, and ISO 27001. Implementing them consistently can reduce both the likelihood and the impact of an incident.
A Cybersecurity Night Before Christmas
In our holiday video, two hackers roam through cyberspace, slipping from system to system in search of weak controls and exposed credentials. Eventually, they collide with a well‑architected security program: strong access controls, a honeypot, and vigilant monitoring that stops them in their tracks.
This narrative mirrors what JANUS Associates delivers to our clients, every day. By focusing on proactive cybersecurity: risk assessments, advanced penetration testing, vulnerability management, and compliance with frameworks such as NIST, CIS, and ISO 27001, we help organizations close the same vulnerabilities that attackers look for during the holidays and throughout the year.
How JANUS Associates Supports You All Year
Since 1988, JANUS Associates has focused exclusively on cybersecurity, privacy, and business resilience; helping clients understand their risk and validate the effectiveness of controls. As a vendor‑neutral advisor, our role is to represent your best interests and provide independent guidance you can trust.
Core services that become especially valuable around the holidays include:
- Cybersecurity and IT risk assessments to identify control gaps before attackers do.
- Advanced penetration testing and vulnerability assessments to validate defenses and reduce exploitable weaknesses.
- Compliance assessments including NIST, CIS, ISO 27001, HIPAA, PCI, and other leading frameworks.
- Incident response reviews, planning, and tabletop exercises to ensure your organization can respond quickly and effectively when necessary.
JANUS helps ensure that security is not a seasonal activity but an embedded, year‑round discipline.
Watch the Video and Start a Conversation
The “Cybersecurity Night Before Christmas” video is more than a festive greeting... It's a reminder that behind every protected system is a deliberate strategy, a strong control framework, and a committed team.
As you plan for a safe and secure New Year, we invite you to watch the video, share it with your team, and consider where JANUS can help strengthen your cybersecurity and risk management programs in the months ahead.
