Black Friday isn’t just a shopping frenzy, it’s a prime opportunity for cybercriminals to strike. While the focus is often on attracting customers and driving sales, this surge in online activity brings heightened cyber risks for businesses across the world.
With millions of consumers flocking online for deals, attackers know businesses are under pressure to deliver seamless experiences. One of the biggest threats during this period? Impersonation attacks, where fraudsters mimic your brand to trick customers, steal data and damage trust.
Now is the time to check in on your cyber security strategy and make sure it’s robust enough to withstand the pressure.
Using the NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0, we’ll guide you through six essential steps to revalidate your risk mitigation plan and keep your business secure during the Black Friday rush.
The NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) is a set of guidelines and best practices that helps organisations to:
- Understand, manage, and reduce cyber security risk
- Protect their networks and data
- Fortify their cyber security posture
Use these 6 guidelines to help you revalidate your risk mitigation strategy and create a tailored risk management programme for Black Friday weekend.
1. Govern – Analyse cyber risks by assessing their impact and probability, factoring in existing mitigating measures, and prioritising the actions you need to take.
2. Identify – Identify and list the assets with increased exposure e.g. websites, ecommerce platforms, etc.
3. Protect – Implement processes that prevent cyber attacks:
- Rebranding websites during the weekend
- Updating all web applications and plugins
- Carrying out a penetration test
- Training employees in cyber security awareness.
4. Detect – Monitor everything (servers, website traffic, social media mentions) so you’re prepared to act as soon as possible.
5. Respond – Be prepared to respond to an incident:
- have an incident response retainer
- carry out a crisis management exercise with a Black Friday theme
6. Recover – Test IT disaster recovery plans
Black Friday may be a golden opportunity for sales, but it’s also a critical test of your organisation’s resilience against cyber threats. By aligning your strategy with the NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 and following these six steps, you can safeguard your brand, protect your customers, and ensure your business thrives during the busiest shopping weekend of the year.
Contact Redcentric’s cyber security team to discuss your cyber security strategy. You can also read about how our vCISO can help you to provide the support you need.
