Former cyber czar urges vigilance ahead of holiday season — "it's not the attackers … it's us"

Just a week before Thanksgiving, shoppers at Stop & Shop stores across Massachusetts were forced to leave empty-handed after a cyberattack against the supermarket chain's parent company led to inventory shortages. 

Parent company Ahold Delhaize said in a statement earlier this month, that it had alerted law enforcement about the cyber breach and had taken some systems offline. "While there may be some limited inventory for certain products, we are working to re-stock our shelves and anticipate item availability to continue to improve over the next few days," the company said. But the incident may be a sign of things to come during the holiday season, when cybersecurity crises are likely to peak.

Already this year, corporate giants like AT&T, Ticketmaster and United Health have suffered paralyzing cyberattacks, and now, businesses are bracing for the holidays, a time when many cybersecurity operations rely on skeleton staffing. But the FBI and Department of Homeland Security are warning that it's no time for them to be taking a "cyber vacation."