Businesses warned not to have skeletons in cupboards
For many organisations, the festive season is an opportunity to heave a corporate sigh of relief and enjoy the brief respite in frenetic business activity as countless people all over the world, go home to celebrate Christmas. Many businesses operate successfully with a skeleton staff, but Internet security consultancy NTA Monitor, is warning companies that do so, to be extra vigilant about their security. A skeleton staff often means a skeletal approach to security. With fewer staff - many of whom may have their minds elsewhere - businesses are more vulnerable than ever to intruders with post-Christmas bargains in mind.
Although many businesses take their security seriously, especially in the build up to Christmas, many become relaxed during the final days of the Christmas count down when there is often a surge of activity as everyone rushes to finish projects before the festive break. As everyone relaxes into their Christmas holidays, there may often be a corresponding relaxation in security.
Despite hacking and virus attacks tending to slow down over the Christmas period, companies may be at greater risk from internal staff. Although the use of a skeleton staff in some offices over Christmas is essential, they can often be unsupervised and may not even be permanent employees. This is an ideal opportunity for an attacker to gain access into a company and its network, which may result in a targeted attack or the exploitation of confidential information.
NTA's Technical Director, Roy Hills, says: "It is much easier for unauthorised personnel to slip in to premises when there are fewer staff around to challenge them. Not only can intruders gain access to confidential business data on the premises, but they also have an ideal opportunity to take equipment and it could be some time before anyone realises it has gone missing."
This article was first released on: 13th November 2007