Holiday Hack Season: Why Small Firms Are Prime Targets

Every year, cybercrime surges during the American Christmas season — and this year will be no different.

Cyber-Criminals know vendors slow down, staff goes on vacation, and IT attention is stretched thin. The perfect time for crime. Consistently, ransomware attacks spike by nearly 70% during the holiday period according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).

For small regulatory and compliance-based firms — like CPAs, financial advisors, and legal firm — this creates a dangerous mix. Protecting their clients’ sensitive data, these firms on vendors who should, but may not, have strong security controls in place.

What is driving the Risk?

1. Vendor Weakness Becomes Your Weakness

Many small firms assume their software vendors, cloud apps, and service platforms are secure, maybe with backup, redundancy, or a warning system for their clients.

Unfortunately, that’s not always true. According to McKinsey, third-party risk should be one of the top cybersecurity priorities for small and medium business, especially during peak seasons when vendors operate with limited staff:

“Comprehensive risk assessments and continuous monitoring of third-party relationships require financial and human resources. Many organizations face budgetary and staffing limitations, which can hinder their ability to thoroughly vet each supplier.” ~McKinsey

Then when a vendor suffers an outage, breach, or misconfiguration, your business experiences the impact. This may include:

• Exposure of client financial records

• Downtime during critical tax or end-of-year reporting periods

• Credential theft through compromised partners/vendors

This makes strong vendor management — and continuous monitoring — essential.

2. Cybercriminals exploit the Holiday Rush distractions

Criminals know employees are distracted and staffing can be limited. This is why phishing volume increases significantly, and the smaller firms (whose team members are on vacation) or relying on temporary support are at highest risk.

Vulnerability comes because these CPAs, Lawyers, and Financial Professionals often lack:

• 24/7 monitoring

• Enforced MFA across all systems

• Centralized IT support or incident response

• And proper training of seasonal staff!

With cloud solutions and remote work now standard, attackers only need one weak login to access an entire network.

3. Compliance-Based Firms and the Bullseye on their back

Cyber criminals know CPAs, financial firms, and legal practices store high-value data: SSNs, tax returns, bank records, and contracts. That makes them attractive targets.

According to IC3, losses from compromised business email exceeded $2.9 billion last year, with these professional services among the hardest hit.

ELIMINATE THE BULLSEYE
To stay compliant — and protect client trust — firms must implement stronger safeguards, including:

• Managed IT services with 24/7 monitoring

• Advanced cybersecurity tools (EDR, encryption, MFA)

• Regular vendor risk assessments

• Proactive IT support to reduce human error

• “Texas Safe Harbor” requirements

Conclusion: Your Holiday Defense Starts Now

Cyber threats don’t take time off — but your business might. Before the holiday rush hits, make sure your firm is protected.

Nerdworks Services, LLC can help you strengthen security, tighten vendor controls, and protect client data year-round.

👉 Download the Cybersecurity Checklist for CPAs and take the first step toward a safer, more resilient firm.

Sources

• FBI IC3 Annual Report: https://www.ic3.gov

• McKinsey Third-Party Risk Insights: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/risk-and-resilience/our-insights/taking-a-business-critical-approach-to-supplier-nth-party-it-risk-management

To help you stay compliant, we have created the IT Compliance Checklist for CPAs. This is the comprehensive checklist you need to identify issues, fix them, and build compliance BEFORE your next audit.

If you have any questions or need further explanation, this checklist comes with a 30 minute consult to personalize this checklist to your firm.

STAYING COMPLIANT -IT Compliance Checklist for CPAs

Nerdworks Services, LLC specializes in helping accounting firms and other compliance-driven companies navigate remote work's complexities while maintaining compliance and supervision standards through collaborative consulting, infrastructure design, IT management, training, and ongoing support.

Nerdworks Services, LLC | 1901 Central Drive, Suite 401, Bedford, Texas 76021 | 682-324-9360 | website:https://nerdworks.services/ email:[email protected]