You and your employees may be getting back from vacation, but cybercriminals never take a day off. In fact, data shown in studies from vendors ProofPoint and Check Point indicate that phishing attempts actually spike in the summer months. Here's how Houston, TX businesses can stay aware and stay protected with the right cybersecurity services.
Why The Increased Risk?
Attackers use your summer travel bug to their advantage by impersonating hotel and Airbnb websites, says Check Point Research. They've uncovered a sharp increase in cyberthreats related to the travel industry – specifically, a 55% increase in the creation of new website domains related to vacations in May 2025, compared to the same period last year. Of over 39,000 domains registered, one in every 21 was flagged as either malicious or suspicious.
Late summer is also back-to-school time, which means an uptick in phishing attempts imitating legitimate university e-mails, targeting both students and staff. While these threats might not affect your manufacturing, legal, accounting, or oil & gas business directly, there's always a chance that employees pursuing their master's degree or planning a vacation will check their personal e-mail on their work computer – and it takes only one wrong click for cyberattackers to have access to all of your business's sensitive data.
For Houston-area businesses handling confidential information – from legal client files to accounting records to proprietary manufacturing processes – this risk is especially concerning.
What To Do About It
While AI is making cybersecurity stronger and workflows smoother, it's also making phishing attacks more convincing. That's why comprehensive managed IT services include ongoing training for your team on what to look for, to avoid clicking on a malicious link.
Safety tips to prevent attacks:
Keep an eye out for shady e-mails. Don't only check for misspellings and poorly formatted sentences in the body of e-mails; AI can write e-mails for attackers just like it can for you. Also examine the e-mail address of the sender and the text of the link itself, if visible, to make sure everything looks legitimate.
Double-check URLs. Misspellings in the link text or unusual domain endings, like .today or .info, can be an indicator of an attack. Domain endings like these are often used in scam sites.
Visit websites directly. It's always better to search for the website yourself, rather than clicking on links in any messages or e-mails.
Enable Multifactor Authentication (MFA). Setting up MFA through managed Office 365 services ensures that even if a breach does occur within your company, your login credentials will remain protected – and so will any data secured behind them. This is especially critical for accounting firms accessing financial systems or legal practices protecting client information.
Be careful with public WiFi. If you need to use public WiFi, our VoIP services and cloud services include VPN capabilities for additional protection when accessing secure information, like booking portals or bank accounts.
Don't access personal e-mail on company devices. Accessing personal e-mail, messaging or social media accounts on business devices increases your risk. Keep personal accounts on your personal devices, and work-related accounts on the work devices. Our managed IT support team can help establish proper device policies.
Ask about endpoint security. Endpoint detection and response (EDR) software can monitor your desktops and mobile devices, detect and block phishing attempts and malicious downloads, and alert your IT support team immediately in the event of a breach, drastically limiting your data's exposure. This network security service is essential for oil & gas operations and manufacturing companies that can't afford operational disruptions.
Comprehensive Protection Strategy
Phishing attempts become more sophisticated every day, and AI is only speeding that process along. Because of this, it's essential to have comprehensive cybersecurity services that include:
- Help Desk Services: Immediate response when employees spot suspicious emails
- Remote IT Support: 24/7 monitoring and threat response
- Data Backup and Recovery Services: Protection against ransomware that often follows successful phishing attacks
- IT Compliance Services: Ensuring your email security meets industry standards for legal firms, accounting practices, manufacturing companies, and oil & gas operations
- Co-managed IT Services: Working with your existing team to implement enterprise-grade email security
Whether you need full managed IT services or co-managed IT support, proper email security and employee training are the best defense against phishing attacks.
Stay Informed, Stay Safe
For Houston businesses in high-risk industries like manufacturing, legal, accounting, and oil & gas, knowledge is the best defense against phishing attacks. Professional cybersecurity training as part of managed IT support ensures your team stays current with the latest threats.
Start the season secure – book your FREE Cybersecurity Assessment today.
Our team will evaluate your current email security, assess your vulnerability to phishing attacks, and recommend the right combination of managed IT services to keep your Houston business protected. Because when it comes to cybersecurity services, prevention is always more cost-effective than recovery.
