Security researchers have long marveled at one of the most pervasive and persistent threats that hits each year in late December. Dubbed “Santa Claus,” this North Pole-based adversary uses a Chimney loader to deposit a payload named “presents.exe” before erasing any cookies from the system. Santa Claus is known to target home networks with young end users, impacting hundreds of millions of victims every year.
To-date, the Santa Claus attack has not proven to be damaging. In fact, many welcome the puzzling annual intrusion as a ritual of the season. But as security professionals are all too aware, Santa Claus may not be the only adversary that they face over the holidays. Threat actors often time their attacks for when they know security teams will be taking time off and slower to detect, investigate, and respond.
We have your back. To make sure you protect yourself this holiday season, keep in mind the following best practices:
As always, Zscaler will be here actively monitoring and maintaining protections to help keep our customers safe. Should you need us, do not hesitate to reach out. Wishing you and your family a wonderful holiday!
For more guidance for the new year based on 2021 attack trends, see “Cybersecurity Lessons to Carry into 2022.”
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