Graphic with the text “How to Secure Remote Work During the Holidays” over a digital cybersecurity background, featuring the eCreek IT Solutions logo in the corner.

How to Secure Remote Work Environments During the Holidays: A Practical Guide for Denver Businesses

This guide will help you navigate the complexities of remote work during the holidays.

Remote work has become a standard part of business operations across Colorado. Many Denver teams now expect the flexibility to work from home, from the road, or from a hotel room during family trips. This shift offers convenience and productivity gains, but it also introduces new cybersecurity challenges that many businesses are not prepared for. As the holiday season approaches, these risks increase significantly. People travel more, work from unfamiliar networks, check email from their phones while distracted, and respond to messages quickly without verifying authenticity.

As remote work becomes more common, understanding its implications is essential.

Holiday travel combined with remote access creates the perfect storm for cybercriminals. Phishing attacks spike every December. Fake shipping notifications, travel confirmations, holiday promotions, gift card scams, and impersonation emails become more sophisticated. Attackers know people are distracted, tired, or rushing between activities. They also know that many businesses run on thinner support teams during the holidays. For manufacturers and other operationally dependent industries in Denver, a single compromised account or infected device can create real downtime, safety risks, and financial loss.

Businesses must prioritize security measures for remote work during the holidays.

This article breaks down the most important steps Denver businesses can take to secure remote work environments during the holidays. It provides real guidance that business leaders, office staff, IT managers, and frontline teams can use right now to reduce risk. Cybersecurity is not just a technical issue. It is a people issue. Protecting your staff during the holidays protects your entire organization.

Understanding the nuances of remote work can aid in decision-making.

Effective training for remote work should be part of company culture.

The Holiday Cybersecurity Problem: Why December Is the Most Dangerous Month for Remote Work

All employees must recognize the importance of securing remote work environments.

Understanding the risks associated with remote work is crucial for all employees.

Cybercriminals follow patterns. Every year, the volume of phishing attempts rises sharply from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day. Analysts track increases in malicious emails that imitate:

  • Airline confirmation messages

  • Hotel reservation updates

  • Missed package delivery notifications

  • Online shopping receipts

  • Holiday greeting cards

  • Charity donation requests

  • Internal messages from HR or executives

  • Urgent password reset warnings

During the holidays, employees also work in unpredictable environments. They might check email while standing in an airport line. They might approve a document from their phone while waiting at a holiday party. They may log in through the Wi-Fi at a cabin rental, a relative’s house, or a roadside hotel. Many feel pressure to respond quickly so they do not appear unavailable during a critical time for the business.

All these conditions create vulnerability. Attackers depend on distraction. When employees are busy, tired, or traveling, they are more likely to click links without reading them carefully. They may also use personal devices that do not have the same protections as company equipment. Remote work is not the problem. Unsecure remote work is the problem.

Denver businesses need practical holiday-specific strategies to help teams stay protected while still enjoying time with family and friends. The steps below outline a strong blueprint for secure remote work during the busiest time of year.

1. Strengthen Your Remote Access Policies Before Employees Travel

All staff should be well-versed in remote work protocols before traveling.

Every business should have a clear remote work security policy, but this becomes especially important during the holiday season. Before December arrives, leadership should share a reminder about accepted practices and updated requirements.

Key policy elements include:

Use only company-approved devices for remote access.
Employees should avoid logging into business systems from personal laptops, tablets, or phones unless the organization has a formal bring your own device program.

Require multifactor authentication across all accounts.
MFA is one of the simplest and most effective ways to reduce unauthorized access. If you have been waiting to implement it, now is the time.

Enforce strong password requirements.
Encourage the use of long passphrases instead of short, complex passwords that are hard to remember. Passwords need to be unique across platforms.

Prohibit open Wi-Fi networks unless a VPN is in use.
Airport Wi-Fi, coffee shops, hotels, and free public access points are prime targets for cybercriminals.

Clear expectations reduce guesswork. When staff understand the rules and the reasons behind them, they make safer decisions during travel.

2. Educate Employees About Holiday-Specific Phishing Threats

Training is one of the most powerful tools you can use to reduce remote work risk. Phishing attacks do not succeed because employees are careless. They succeed because attackers mimic real business communication during a time when people are overloaded.

Remote work training can significantly reduce risks associated with online threats.

Before holiday travel begins, host a short training session or send out a guide on how to spot seasonal phishing attempts. Include real examples of:

  • Fake Amazon shipping notifications

  • Bogus airline itinerary updates

  • Fraudulent hotel reservation edits

  • Gift card scam requests

  • Emails pretending to be from executives who are “traveling”

  • Scams that disguise themselves as holiday bonuses

  • Requests from vendors or partners claiming to have a revised holiday schedule

Explain that attackers rely on timing. When employees are rushing to catch a flight or packing up for a trip, they do not always slow down to verify the sender. This awareness alone prevents many incidents.

Encourage staff to contact IT or their managed service provider if they feel uncertain about any message. Reinforce that no one will be criticized for double-checking. Questions are always welcome. Silence is what creates risk.

3. Secure Devices That Will Be Used Outside the Office

Any device that leaves the building during the holidays must have proper protections. This includes laptops, tablets, mobile phones, and even external hard drives used for field work or manufacturing support.

Secure devices used for remote work to ensure safety during the holidays.

Every business should confirm that all remote devices have:

  • Updated antivirus and anti-malware tools

  • Fully patched operating systems

  • Automatic lock screens with short timeouts

  • Encrypted storage

  • The ability to be remotely wiped if lost or stolen

  • Company-approved VPN connectivity

  • Blocked access to unauthorized applications

Holiday travel creates a higher chance of devices being misplaced. Airports, rideshares, restaurants, and family events create unpredictable movement and frequent distractions. A secure device minimizes the damage if it lands in the wrong hands.

Business owners should also audit user privileges. Employees should have access only to the systems they need. Restricted access limits the scope of a breach if an attacker gains control of a device.

4. Encourage Employees to Be Cautious With Public Wi-Fi

Employees should be aware of the dangers public Wi-Fi poses to remote work.

Public Wi-Fi is one of the most dangerous elements of remote work. Attackers create unsafe networks with names that look legitimate. They rely on employees connecting to the first option they see without questioning its authenticity.

During the holidays, teams often work from:

  • Airport lounges

  • Hotels

  • Local coffee shops

  • Train stations

  • AirBnB or VRBO rentals

  • Family homes with unknown router configurations

Every business should communicate two simple rules:

Avoid public Wi-Fi whenever possible.
If staff need to connect, they should always use a company VPN first.

Do not access sensitive systems on open networks.
Banking platforms, HR systems, CRMs, manufacturing control systems, and email accounts with administrator permissions should never be accessed through unprotected connections.

Many companies now provide mobile hotspots for traveling employees. If that is not an option, encourage staff to use phone hotspots rather than open networks.

5. Prepare for an Increase in Help Desk Support Needs

Holiday travel increases support requests. Employees hit login issues. MFA resets become more common. Devices behave unpredictably when they switch between networks. Outdated routers in a relative’s home can cause connection failures. Teams often contact IT while rushing through an airport terminal or during a layover when time is tight.

Prepare for an influx of requests related to remote work during busy travel times.

Your business should plan for this. Make sure support staff or MSP teams have coverage during peak travel periods. Create a fast path for urgent requests. Send employees information on how to reach IT if their normal computer is unavailable.

When people travel, they may rely more heavily on mobile devices to communicate. If a phone is lost, stolen, or compromised, the organization may lose access to MFA. Have a process in place for emergency identity verification and account recovery.

Support responsiveness protects the business as much as it protects the employee.

6. Implement Email Security Tools That Filter Holiday-Themed Scams

Implementing email security measures is crucial in a remote work environment.

Technical safeguards reduce the volume of risky messages reaching your users. Email filtering, advanced threat protection, and impersonation detection tools become especially valuable during December.

These tools scan for:

  • Untrusted domains

  • Suspicious attachments

  • Messages that imitate executives

  • Known phishing patterns

  • URLs that redirect to malicious sites

  • Weak or mismatched sender authentication

Filtering does not replace employee awareness. It simply reduces the volume of dangerous messages. Fewer threats mean fewer chances for someone to make a mistake during a busy moment.

7. Conduct a Pre-Holiday Security Review of Remote Work Systems

A pre-holiday review of remote systems can prevent security breaches.

Every Denver business should run a quick audit before employees begin traveling. This review should include:

Verification of MFA across all accounts
Review of VPN usage policies and logs
Patch status for all devices
Review of access permissions and user accounts
Backup integrity checks
Firewall configuration updates
Endpoint security validation

Manufacturing companies should pay special attention to the separation between operational technology and information technology systems. Remote access into production environments should be tightly controlled. A single compromised remote login can create downtime that affects real output.

8. Remind Employees to Protect Physical Devices

Cybersecurity involves physical safety as well. During the holidays, theft increases. Devices left in cars, hotel lobbies, airport security bins, or restaurant tables become easy targets.

Emphasize device security for employees engaged in remote operations during the holidays.

Employees should:

  • Keep devices in carry-on bags

  • Never leave equipment visible in cars

  • Use hotel safes when possible

  • Avoid plugging into unknown USB ports

  • Use privacy screens on laptops in public places

A stolen device does not always lead to a breach, but if it is unprotected or improperly secured, your business may face significant risk.

9. Encourage Employees to Slow Down Before Clicking Anything

One of the most helpful pieces of advice you can give your staff is simple. Slow down. Even a two second pause is enough to prevent many phishing attacks.

Ask employees to check:

  • The sender’s address

  • The tone of the message

  • Unexpected urgency

  • Unexpected attachments

  • Misspellings

  • Requests for gift cards or money

  • Requests to reset passwords

  • Links that do not match the text

People make mistakes when they feel rushed. Encourage your team to read messages fully. A quick moment of caution protects the entire business.

10. Work With a Trusted Managed IT Partner to Strengthen Holiday Security

Work with trusted partners to enhance security for remote work solutions.

The holiday season is not the time to relax your cybersecurity posture. It is the time to reinforce it. Many businesses in Denver rely on managed IT partners to provide continuous monitoring, proactive protection, and expert guidance.

Investing in security tools is necessary for a stable work environment.

A strong partner can:

  • Detect suspicious account activity early

  • Monitor logins from unusual locations

  • Provide fast support for traveling employees

  • Block known phishing campaigns

  • Secure remote access portals

  • Update security tools across all devices

  • Respond quickly to incidents if they occur

Remote work will continue to evolve, but a proactive approach keeps it safe. The holidays do not have to be a period of increased risk. With the right strategy, your teams can work from anywhere with confidence.

Final Thoughts

Remote work is a powerful advantage for modern businesses. It offers flexibility, supports work life balance, and keeps operations running smoothly even when teams are traveling. But the holiday season introduces higher risk and increased opportunity for cybercriminals. Denver companies, especially those in manufacturing or operations dependent industries, must take steps now to reduce exposure.

Effective management of remote work can lead to greater employee satisfaction.

By strengthening policies, educating employees, securing devices, updating systems, and reinforcing support structures, you build a safer remote environment for everyone. Cybersecurity is not just about technology. It is about people. Protecting your team during the holidays protects your business for the year ahead.

Creating a culture that values security is essential for success.