While you’re celebrating, are hackers at work?

Periods of downtime are some of the most active times for hackers and the festive season presents numerous opportunities for them.

As most businesses look forward to slowing down, closing out the year, and giving their employees a well-earned break, hackers are hard at work. They know many organisations have their guards down. 

So, while you’re celebrating, are hackers at work on your systems?

If your business isn’t equipped with strong Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR), the answer may be yes.

Identity is the New Security Perimeter

Compromised identities are now at the centre of some of the most successful breaches.

Hackers are out there and looking to target:

• Employee credentials
• Cloud access accounts
• Privileged user identities
• Multi-factor authentication bypasses
• Stolen or reused passwords

With hybrid working, remote workers, and many different devices in any business, your ‘attack surface’ is no longer the office, it’s every identity with access to your systems.

That’s why ITDR has become a critical security layer for modern organisations.

What Is ITDR?

Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) is a cybersecurity solution that is designed to protect organisations from identity-based attacks.  It works by detecting suspicious behaviour, identifying compromised accounts, and responding in real time.

It goes beyond traditional cyber security solutions.  ITDR focuses on detecting abuse of permissions and protects access.

Why do Identity Threats Spike During the Christmas Holidays?

Cyber attackers know that the Christmas holiday brings many opportunities and these include:

• Fewer staff monitoring alerts
• Slower response times
• Out-of-office logins from unusual locations
• More digital transactions
• Phishing emails that can be disguised as festive notices

This makes identity compromise easier, and much more profitable.  Once a single login is stolen, it can allow attackers to:

• Move laterally through systems
• Escalate privileges
• Access sensitive files
• Plant ransomware
• Exfiltrate data silently

This can go undetected for weeks unless ITDR is in place.

The Core Strengths of ITDR

1. Understanding Normal Identity Behaviour.  ITDR tools build a baseline of normal activity for each user, including login times, locations, device types, and access patterns.  Anything unusual, such as logins from a new country or an attempt to access systems is flagged instantly.
2. Detecting Identity Misuse Early.  Instead of waiting for a breach to become obvious, ITDR identifies early warning signs such as:
   • Brute-force password attempts
   • Suspicious privilege escalations
   • Dormant accounts suddenly becoming active
   • Impossible travel (logins from two distant locations)
   • MFA fatigue attacks
3. Automated Responses to Stop Attackers in Their Tracks. When threats are detected, ITDR can automatically:
   • Lock or disable accounts
   • Trigger MFA reauthentication
   • Alert security teams
   • Block access to sensitive data
   • Isolate compromised devices
4. Forensics and Visibility After an Incident.  If a breach occurs, ITDR provides a clear identity activity trail, helping your in-house IT teams to understand:
   • Which accounts were used
   • What systems were accessed
   • How the attacker moved
   • What data may have been exposed

This insight supports both remediation and compliance.

A cyber secure festive season starts with protecting identities.  Identity protection is the new front line of cyber defence, because cyber attackers are becoming more sophisticated, especially during periods when you’re least prepared.  

By implementing Identity Threat Detection and Response, businesses can gain:

• Proactive protection against credential misuse
• Faster detection of suspicious activity
• Automated mitigation to minimise damage
• Greater confidence in their security posture

So, while you’re celebrating this across the Christmas holiday period, make sure hackers aren’t celebrating at your expense.

At Fifteen Group, we are partnered with Huntress to deliver a comprehensive range of cyber security solutions to keep your organisation safe.  

During a recent free trial of ITDR, hundreds of anomalies were detected, proving just how at risk business systems and data is.

Find out more about ITDR and contact us today.