Protect every click this holiday season with Cloud-Delivered Security Services

The holiday season brings joy, connection, and, unfortunately, a spike in cyber activity. While employees are chasing shipping confirmations and last-minute deals, attackers are chasing something else entirely: credentials, sensitive data and accessibility. The fastest way inside is through the web browser.

What used to be a simple gateway for productivity has become one of the most targeted parts of the enterprise. Modern phishing and malware campaigns often conceal themselves within legitimate-looking pages that become malicious only when loaded, rendering them invisible to URL lists and static scanners.

From Safe Shopping to Silent Threats

During the holidays, users commonly switch between work dashboards, shopping sites and travel booking sites. Cybercriminals are well aware of this increased activity and often use the seasonal distraction to their advantage. In fact, many online stores have been found to unknowingly host malicious JavaScript designed to steal credit card data or redirect shoppers to fraudulent pages. Many of these attacks originate from well-known campaigns, such as SocGholish, ParrotTDS, VexTrio, Magecart and Lumma Stealer, which compromised hundreds of shopping sites during the peak season.

A special holiday offer or browser update pop-up might look harmless, but hidden scripts can quietly assemble malicious code inside the browser. Network-layer defenses that block known malicious URLs cannot detect this fragmented payload at runtime.

This activity creates a surge in:

• Phishing emails that pose as major retailers or shipping companies
• Smishing texts that claim a package delay or delivery change
• QR code scams at holiday events
• Fake order confirmations designed to harvest credentials
• Look-alike discount pages that hide malicious scripts

These scams often look legitimate at first glance, but the dynamic code activates only after the page loads. As employees rush to wrap up projects and complete year-end tasks, their attention shifts easily. Innocently clicking on a gift card promotion or travel site becomes the entry point for a modern phishing attack.

Instead of relying on suspicious domains, these attackers use legitimate-looking websites and dynamic scripts that come to life inside the browser. They insert malicious code into active sessions to harvest credentials and sensitive data without disrupting the user experience.

The result is a perfect storm of distraction and deception that underscores why real-time in-browser protection has become essential during the busiest and most vulnerable time of the year.

A New Layer of Defense Inside the Browser

Modern attacks no longer stop at the network layer. They unfold inside the browser itself, where dynamic scripts, obfuscated payloads and credential-stealing behavior come to life only after a page loads.

To protect users against these threats, Palo Alto Networks initially introduced Advanced Web Protection (AWP) as part of Prisma Browser, creating a powerful new layer of real-time defense for every browsing session. This integration delivers protection powered by Precision AI directly inside the browser. Web content and scripts are continuously analyzed as pages load, allowing Prisma Browser with AWP to detect and block hidden payloads, cloaked phishing pages and AI-generated malicious code that traditional network-layer tools cannot see.

Advanced URL Filtering (AURL) further strengthens this defense by delivering industry-leading inline protection. AWP builds on the real-time intelligence of Advanced URL Filtering to extend protection into the browser itself, where it inspects and controls activity in real time. Together, AURL and AWP provide coordinated protection across both the network and browser layers before and during page execution, eliminating visibility gaps that attackers increasingly exploit, especially during the holiday season.

Prisma Browser with Advanced Web Protection strengthens security across every browsing session through:

• End-to-end visibility. Prisma Browser with AWP inspects all browser-generated traffic in real time without requiring SSL decryption.
• Unified defense. Powered by Precision AI, AWP shares models and threat intelligence with Advanced URL Filtering and the broader CDSS ecosystem through Strata Cloud Manager.
• Seamless user experience. Employees can browse, work, and shop safely without intrusive prompts.
• Consistent protection everywhere. Both managed and unmanaged devices receive the same in-browser safeguards.

Better Together for the Holidays with Cloud-Delivered Security Services

This shift from static, list-based attacks to dynamic runtime threats highlights why a unified prevention platform is so critical during the holidays. Palo Alto Networks Cloud-Delivered Security Services (CDSS) provide prevention across multiple layers of the attack lifecycle, working together to stop phishing, malware, command and control, DNS-based threats, evasive payloads and identity-driven attacks before they escalate.

Every day, CDSS analyzes up to 5.43 billion real user-traffic events, identifies up to 8.95 million never-before-seen threats and blocks up to 30.9 billion attacks inline. This telemetry fuels the Precision AI models that power CDSS, creating a network effect where insights from more than 70,000 customers strengthen prevention for everyone.

Across Advanced Threat Prevention, Advanced WildFire, Advanced DNS Security, Advanced URL Filtering and Device Security, CDSS delivers rich telemetry, detection driven by Precision AI-driven detection and real-time web content prevention that directly addresses the rise in holiday-themed scams. Advanced URL Filtering analyzes web content as it loads, enabling real-time blocking of dynamic phishing pages, fake shipping sites and malicious discount pages that rely on hidden scripts or AI-generated payloads. New QR code protection helps stop attacks that holiday event flyers, package delivery stickers or promotional materials trigger by inspecting the underlying URL before it reaches the browser.

CDSS also identifies JavaScript obfuscation commonly used in gift card scams and fake retailer pages, preventing hidden code from executing inside active sessions. This unified approach protects users whether they are working in the office, holiday shopping during lunch, or checking travel bookings from home.

Unwrap Peace of Mind This Holiday Season

As cybercriminals ramp up social engineering and evasive browser-based attacks during the holidays, CDSS ensures your defenses are ready to celebrate, too.

Collaboration across Advanced URL Filtering, Prisma Browser with Advanced Web Protection and the broader CDSS ecosystem enables organizations to gain the visibility, control and contextual intelligence they need to stop modern threats in real time, regardless of where users connect.

So, while your teams unwrap new projects or a well-earned holiday gift, you can unwrap peace of mind knowing your users are protected from the hidden dangers of the web.

For more information about CDSS or Prisma Browser with Advanced Web Protection, or to explore how these capabilities can strengthen your organization’s defenses, contact your Palo Alto Networks representative.

Wishing you a happy, safe and secure holiday season from Palo Alto Networks.