Quick Intelligence Blog

For e-commerce businesses, Black Friday and Cyber Monday can make or break the year. But while your team prepares discounts, shipping, and site performance, threat actors are preparing too. A report from Darktrace found about a 30 % increase in attempted ransomware attacks globally over the holiday period vs average months. Cybercriminals target retailers, suppliers, and DTC brands that are too focused on sales to notice vulnerabilities. 

Every October, Cybersecurity Awareness Month brings the same pattern: headlines packed with scary stats, campaigns dripping with doom and overdone warnings about hackers in the shadows. The goal is noble but the tone is tired. Fear doesn’t make organizations safer. It creates noise, fatigue and mistrust. 

At QuickIntel, we believe awareness should drive action, not anxiety. This month we’re challenging the industry’s obsession with scare tactics and focusing on what helps: better culture, smarter leadership and security that supports people instead of overwhelming them. 

Why Fear Falls Flat 

It’s easy to lean on fear. Big numbers, dramatic breaches and nightmare scenarios capture attention. But when everything is presented as a crisis, employees check out. Security becomes something to dodge instead of something to embrace. 

Instead of building resilience, fear campaigns breed cynicism: “Here we go again.” That attitude is dangerous, because disengagement opens the door to real threats.  

The Real Threat: Fatigue  

Cybersecurity isn’t only technical. It’s human. And right now, employees are tired. The result? People tune out. They reuse passwords, skip updates or ignore alerts and it’s because they’re burned out. Fatigue is a security risk hiding in plain sight. 

What Employees Want  

The fix isn’t more fire drills. It’s leadership that treats people like partners and straight answers. Not empty promises of “zero risk,” but real talk about what’s protected and what isn’t. 

How Leaders Can Raise the Bar 

Here are four ways to build awareness that works:

Cybersecurity is often treated like an unsolvable mystery. Executives know it matters but struggle to know where to start. Boards hear about ransomware attacks in the news and worry that they could be next. Teams get overwhelmed by the flood of products, acronyms, and headlines. Somewhere between the noise and the fear, many organizations freeze. 

AI is moving faster than most organizations can keep up with. New tools are being rolled out weekly. Internal teams are adopting them organically and often without oversight. Meanwhile, regulators around the world are racing to catch up. 

New compliance legislation means tighter data protection rules for organizations handling sensitive information, especially those working with the Ontario government.