"Hackers celebrate Thanksgiving by ruining yours" - unknown

How many times have you been stuck in the office for an outage or an attack on a holiday or right before?

Most large enterprises have a change freeze that starts sometime in November and lasts just past the New Year.

Why? Because we all take off for the holidays. Employers try to allow us not to get the late night call on Hanukkah, Christmas and other holidays. But for some reason, for me Thanksgiving Eve was the night I just couldn't get out of the office. Fortunately, nothing "MAJOR" happened on my watch, but for many it does.

Why? The bad guys know you'll be 3 beers deep at the pub on Thanksgiving eve or tired from too much turkey on Thanksgiving day. The hackers hit us when we are watching Football instead of the alerts.

Why? With AI being a common household tool these days, it might just be the most interesting Thanksgiving yet.

Is this guy for real?

• Ransomware Spike: CISA and FBI report a 30%+ increase in impactful attacks on holidays/weekends, as seen in 2021-2023 data. Reduced monitoring on even on "eve nights".

  
  

• Retail Focus: Black Friday prep makes eve ideal for credential stuffing and phishing, with breaches like Macy's (undated but holiday-tied) showing thousands affected.

Today's article is just a reminder to keep your eyes open. Here are a couple of famous hits that came on Thanksgiving. Here are just two of the many breaches over the Thanksgiving holiday:

Target Data Breach (2013)

• What Happened: Hackers accessed Target's network via stolen credentials from an HVAC vendor, installing malware on point-of-sale systems. They stole credit card data from up to 40 million customers and personal info from 70 million more.

• Timing: The breach began over the Thanksgiving weekend, with initial access likely on Thanksgiving Eve (November 27). Data exfiltration peaked during Black Friday shopping.

• Impact: Cost Target over $200 million in settlements and lost sales; led to major changes in retail cybersecurity.

  
  

Integris Health Data Breach (2023)

• What Happened: Hackers infiltrated the Oklahoma-based hospital network, exfiltrating protected health information (PHI) like names, addresses, and medical records.

• Timing: Breach occurred over Thanksgiving weekend (November 23–26, 2023), with data theft undetected until post-holiday.

• Impact: Exposed PHI of 2.38 million patients, leading to notification costs and lawsuits; one of the largest healthcare breaches that year.

My tip for Thanksgiving and other Holiday weekends, be prepared and don't rush too fast out the door and check in once in a while.