Before your team signs off for the holiday, here’s a quick look at the essential steps every business should review to stay protected over Thanksgiving:

1. Validate Backups & Cloud Systems

☐ Make sure backups are current and test a quick restore.
☐ Confirm your cloud apps (Office 365, email, ERP, CRM) are secured and monitored throughout the weekend.

2. Review User Access & Permissions

☐ Disable accounts no longer in use.
☐ Ensure multi-factor authentication is enforced for all remote access.

3. Update Critical Systems

☐ Run the last round of patches before Thanksgiving.
☐ Unpatched systems are the #1 target for holiday ransomware.

4. Confirm 24/7 Monitoring Is Active

☐ Security tools should still be watching even if your team is not.
☐ Check alert routing and on-call contacts.

5. Warn Your Team About Holiday Phishing

Email scams spike around Thanksgiving:

  • Fake delivery updates

  • Payroll changes

  • Black Friday deals
    Remind your team to stay cautious.

6. Document Your Emergency Plan

☐ Assign someone who will respond to issues if they arise.
☐ Share emergency contacts with key team members.

A Helpful Reminder

Your systems don’t take holidays but your team deserves one.
A few simple checks today can prevent hours of stress (and thousands in losses) tomorrow.

If you’d like a second set of eyes, we’re offering a free Pre-Holiday IT Readiness Check to help businesses stay protected all weekend.

No cost. No obligation. Just peace of mind.