Red Hot Cyber
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Ambra Santoro : 3 December 2025 12:32
December isn’t just about Christmas lights: for those working in cybersecurity, it’s the month when the human factor collapses and companies rush to buy solutions just to be “compliant” for the new year.
A perfect breeding ground for mistakes, vulnerabilities, and choices that will be paid dearly in 2026.
The arrival of December brings with it a strange mix of frenzy and vulnerability.
On the one hand, employees, still stunned by the endless Black Friday deals, are dragging themselves towards Christmas with inboxes full of fake “order confirmations.”
On the other hand, there are IT managers and CISOs who must race against time to close a budget, comply with new regulations, and enter the new year with a green light on compliance. In the middle, there are cybercriminals: patient, methodical, and fully aware that this is the moment when the human factor is most at its weakest.
The post-Black Friday era is the reign of social engineering. Deepfakes mimic vendors, malicious chatbots mimic authentic websites, and AI-powered emails that bypass traditional filters.
In 2025, creating a tailored campaign takes minutes, not days.
And when the recipient of the email is tired, distracted, or under pressure, the probability of error surpasses any technological barrier.
Making matters worse is the rush to comply. DORA, NIS2, and the Cyber Resilience Act are no longer abstract acronyms: they entail stringent requirements for risk management, incident reporting within specific timeframes, supply chain assessments, software product hardening, and business continuity controls.
Many companies arrive in December with glaring gaps in their treatment records, risk matrices, or continuous monitoring models, and try to fill them all in a few weeks.
This translates into hasty purchases: governance platforms, SOC services, asset discovery tools, or XDR solutions adopted more to check the “compliant” box than for true process integration. The effect? Poorly implemented systems, incomplete configurations, silenced alerts, and a perimeter that only seems more robust on paper. In some cases, the hasty addition of new components introduces additional attack surfaces, especially when identities, logs, and API integrations are poorly managed.
December reminds us that cybersecurity isn’t a purchase, it’s a process.
And compliance isn’t an Excel spreadsheet to fill out, but a discipline that requires continuity, accountability, and real visibility into systems.
Tackling it at the last minute turns a strategic duty into an operational risk!
The busiest month of the year proves one simple thing: the most costly mistakes aren’t made by computers, they’re made by people under pressure.
And in 2025, more than ever, safety rewards those who know how to slow down when everyone else is rushing.
Ambra Santoro