While we’re setting goals about fitness, budgeting, and getting organized… cybercriminals are making resolutions of their own.
But theirs are simple:
Steal more. Scam more. Target small businesses more effectively.
And according to your uploaded content, East Tennessee companies are their favorite targets — not because they’re careless, but because they’re busy.
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Here’s the 2026 cyber-criminal playbook — and how to shut it down before they get started.
Resolution #1: “We’ll Send Phishing Emails So Real You Can’t Tell the Difference.”
The era of sloppy, typo-filled emails is over.
AI now makes phishing:
- Look legitimate
- Sound like your company
- Reference real vendors
- Arrive at the perfect moment
A modern attack looks like this:
“Hi Sarah, the updated invoice bounced. Here’s the corrected version — please confirm accounting received it.”
Looks normal.
Feels normal.
But it’s a trap.
Your Defense
- Train employees to verify, not just read
- Use email security tools that flag impersonation attempts
- Create a culture where questioning strange requests is celebrated
Resolution #2: “We’ll Impersonate Your Vendors… or Your CEO.”
This is one of the most effective and fastest-growing scams.
Examples:
- “We changed bank accounts — use this one moving forward.” (Fake vendor)
- “Urgent. Wire funds immediately. Can’t talk.” (Fake CEO)
And now? Deepfake voice scams.
They can clone your CEO’s voice from a voicemail or a webinar.
It sounds exactly like them — because it is them, digitally cloned.
Your Defense
- Mandatory callback verification for all banking changes
- No money moves without a voice confirmation via a known number
- MFA on every finance and admin account
Resolution #3: “Small Businesses Will Be Our Primary Targets.”
Why?
Because big companies strengthened their defenses.
So attackers shifted strategies:
100 easy $50,000 attacks > 1 difficult $5 million attack.
Attackers know you:
- Don’t have a security team
- Are understaffed
- Are juggling everything
- Think “we’re too small to be a target”
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That belief is exactly what makes you a target.
Your Defense
- Enable MFA
- Keep systems updated
- Use monitored security tools
- Maintain tested, verified backups
Make yourself harder to hit than the business next door.
Resolution #4: “We’ll Exploit New Employees and Tax Season Chaos.”
New hires don’t know your norms.
They want to impress.
They trust requests that look urgent.
Attackers use this moment:
“Hi, this is the CEO — can you handle this wire quickly?”
Payroll scams spike during tax season too:
“I need all employee W-2s for an audit. Send ASAP.”
Once criminals have W-2 data, they file fraudulent returns before your employees do.
Your Defense
- Security training for new hires before email access
- Clear rules: “We never send W-2s via email.”
- Verification culture: praise people who double-check
Prevention Will Always Be Cheaper Than Recovery
You have two choices:
OPTION A: React after the attack.
- Pay ransom
- Lose productivity
- Notify customers
- Rebuild systems
- Pray insurance covers it
Cost: Tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands
Timeline: Weeks to months
OPTION B: Prevent the attack.
- MFA
- Backups
- Monitoring
- Training
- Patching
Cost: A fraction of recovery
Timeline: Ongoing and quiet
You don’t buy a fire extinguisher after the fire.
How to Ruin Every Cybercriminal’s 2026 Resolution
A strong IT partner keeps your business off the target list by:
- Monitoring systems 24/7
- Blocking impersonation attempts
- Training staff on modern (AI-driven) scams
- Verifying safe financial processes
- Testing and securing backups
- Patching vulnerabilities before attackers find them
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Criminals are counting on you being overwhelmed and underprotected.
Let’s disappoint them.
👉 Book a 15-Minute New Year Security Reality Check.
No jargon. No scare tactics. Just clarity and a plan for 2026.
