Why on holidays and weekends there are more attacks on the network

There are many types of computer security attacks and many strategies that hackers can carry out. Now, do the attacks occur regardless of the date or are there certain times when they occur more frequently? We are going to talk about this in this article. We are going to explain why on holidays and weekends there are more likely to be security attacks on the network.

Security attacks increase on holidays

It is a reality that computer attacks increase according to the time of year. For example, we can mention the Phishing attacks that increase at times like Christmas, in which many users make purchases over the Internet and are waiting for the mail to see if they receive their package soon or not.

weekends there are more attacks on the network

In fact, the FBI and CISA have just warned that there is a greater probability of suffering ransomware attacks both on holidays and on weekends. It is one of the most important threats, which aims to encrypt the victim’s files and computers and later demand a ransom in return.

But why do the attacks increase on weekends or holidays? There are different reasons, but one of the main ones is that users, as well as companies, lower their guard . They are less prepared to defend themselves in case of an attack, some mail scam or the like.

This can especially happen in businesses. Cybercriminals launch attacks such as ransomware, and with fewer security personnel present, they have a better chance that those attacks will be successful or take longer to repair.

Ataques a través del e-mail

Change user activity

If we think about home users, on weekends it is more likely that we connect from mobile, than even use public Wi-Fi networks . This makes it easy for us to open an email without realizing it, without paying much attention to the content, or for us to enter a fake page from a Wi-Fi in a shopping center or airport, for example.

Hackers take advantage of these small details to have a greater chance of success when launching their attacks. In addition, these are times of less activity, so if they manage to enter a system, they are less likely to detect it quickly. It is not the same as entering a business network at a time when everyone is using the computers and may notice that something is wrong.

Therefore, security attacks on both holidays and weekends are more likely. It is very important that we are always protected, that we have everything we need to do so. For example, you have to have a good antivirus, such as Windows Defender, Avast or Bitdefender, to name a few, as well as have your computers updated to the latest version. We must recognize a keylogger malware and avoid problems.

However, beyond these basic protection measures that we have mentioned, the most important thing is always going to be common sense. Especially to avoid attacks that, as we have indicated, can take advantage of moments in which we lower our guard and make mistakes, such as clicking on a link that comes to us by mail. An example is reducing the personal information that we post on social media, as it is available for an attacker to use.