Cybercrime incidents have become less seasonal and more consistent from month to month over the past two years, according to a report released Thursday by Resilience Cyber Insurance Solutions LLC.
The San Francisco-based program manager said timing of cybercrime has become more tied to geopolitical influences.
According to Resilience data, in 2021 cyber claims notices in December were four times the monthly average and claims were twice the monthly average in October and November, coinciding with U.S. holiday periods.
In 2022, though, the most active months were May, June and December.
“The fallout of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 led to a dip in late winter, followed by an increase in cyber activity in late Spring/early Summer,” the report said.
While claims frequency remained higher in the final month of the year, the number of incidents fell to twice the monthly average, Resilience said.
Heightened activity during holiday periods has been linked to issues such as more employees using unsecured networks while traveling, more phishing scams and the increased impact of ransomware threats on retailers, manufacturers and hospitality companies during busy periods, Resilience said.