The Cybercriminal’s New Year’s Resolutions (and How to Break Them)
Somewhere right now, a cybercriminal is setting New Year’s resolutions too.
Not about self-care or work-life balance.
They’re reviewing what worked in 2025 and planning how to steal more in 2026.
And guess what? Small businesses are their favorite target.
Not because you’re careless.
Because you’re busy.
And criminals love busy.
Here’s their 2026 game plan — and how you can ruin it.
Resolution #1: “I’ll Send Phishing Emails That Look Real”
The days of laughably bad scam emails are gone.
AI now writes messages that:
- Sound normal
- Use your company’s tone
- Reference real vendors you actually work with
- Skip the obvious red flags
They don’t need typos to trick you. They need timing. And January — when everyone’s rushing back from the holidays — is perfect.
Example:
“Hi [your name], I tried to send the updated invoice, but the file bounced back. Can you confirm this is still the right email for accounting? Here’s the new version — let me know if you have questions. Thanks, [actual vendor name].”
No Nigerian prince. No urgent wire transfer. Just a believable request.
Your counter-move:
- Train your team to verify, not just read.
- Use email filtering that flags impersonation attempts.
- Celebrate caution — “I verified before responding” should be praised, not punished.
Resolution #2: “I’ll Pretend to Be Your Vendor… or Your Boss”
This one hits harder because it feels real.
- A vendor email: “We updated our bank details. Please use this new account.”
- A text from “the CEO”: “Urgent. Wire this now. I’m in a meeting.”
- Or worse: a deepfake voice call that sounds exactly like your CEO.
That’s not sci-fi. That’s Tuesday.
Your counter-move:
- Always verify bank changes with a callback to a known number.
- No payments without voice confirmation through trusted channels.
- Enforce MFA on finance and admin accounts.
Resolution #3: “I’ll Target Small Businesses More Than Ever”
Big companies got harder to attack. Insurance tightened. Security improved.
So criminals pivoted: instead of one $5M attack, they run a hundred $50K attacks. Easier. Safer. More profitable.
Small businesses are now the prime target. You have money worth stealing, data worth ransoming, and usually no dedicated security team.
Your counter-move:
- Stop being low-hanging fruit. MFA, updates, tested backups make you harder than the business next door.
- Retire the phrase “we’re too small to be a target.” You’re not too small to be attacked — just too small to make headlines.
- Get professional help. You don’t need a Fortune 500 security team, just a partner watching your back.
Resolution #4: “I’ll Exploit New Hires and Tax Season”
January means new employees. They don’t know the rules yet. They want to impress. They’re perfect targets.
Add tax season scams — fake W-2 requests, payroll phishing, bogus IRS notices — and attackers have a field day.
Your counter-move:
- Train new hires before they get email access.
- Write clear policies: “We never send W-2s via email.” “All payment requests must be verified by phone.”
- Reward verification. The employee who double-checks should be praised, not made to feel paranoid.
Prevention Beats Recovery
You have two choices:
Option A: React after the attack.
Pay ransom, hire emergency help, notify customers, rebuild systems, repair reputation. Cost: six figures. Timeline: weeks to months.
Option B: Prevent the attack.
Implement security, train your team, monitor threats, close vulnerabilities. Cost: a fraction. Timeline: ongoing. Outcome: nothing happens — which is the point.
You don’t buy a fire extinguisher after the building burns. You buy it so you’ll never need it.
How to Ruin Their Year
A good IT partner keeps you off the “easy target” list by:
- Monitoring systems 24/7
- Locking down access and credentials
- Training your team on modern scams
- Enforcing verification policies
- Testing backups so ransomware is an inconvenience, not extinction
- Patching before criminals exploit vulnerabilities
That’s fire prevention, not firefighting.
Take Your Business Off Their Target List
Cybercriminals are setting their 2026 goals right now. They’re counting on businesses like yours to be unprepared.
Let’s disappoint them.
Book a New Year Security Reality Check.
In 15 minutes, we’ll show you where you’re exposed, what matters most, and how to stop being low-hanging fruit.
No scare tactics. No jargon. Just clarity.
👉 Schedule your 15-minute Security Reality Check today.
Because the best New Year’s resolution is making sure you’re not on someone else’s list.
