Black Friday is usually viewed as a test of marketing campaigns, websites and fulfilment systems. But for startups selling online, it is increasingly a test of cybersecurity too. A sudden increase in traffic, transactions and promotional activity can create opportunities for criminals as well as customers.
Can Your Website Handle More Than Traffic?
A successful Black Friday campaign might send thousands of additional visitors to a startup’s website. Behind the scenes, however, teams also need to watch for unusual login attempts, suspicious transactions and other activity that could indicate an attack.
Security should therefore be considered alongside server capacity and website performance when preparing for seasonal peaks.
Scammers Follow the Crowds
Criminals understand that shoppers expect to receive a flood of promotional messages in November. That makes fraudulent emails and fake offers easier to disguise among legitimate marketing.
The problem was particularly visible in 2025. Infosecurity Magazine reported that Darktrace observed a 620% increase in Black Friday-themed phishing campaigns in the weeks leading up to the shopping event.
For startups, protecting the company domain and educating employees about unexpected links should be part of Black Friday preparation.
What Would a Fake Version of Your Store Look Like?
Smaller brands can also face impersonation. Criminals may create convincing copies of ecommerce websites or domains designed to look similar to legitimate stores.
Monitoring for suspicious domains and making official website addresses clear across marketing channels can help businesses make it easier for customers to identify the genuine store.
Think About How Your Team Browses
Employees may spend the Black Friday period researching competitors, checking advertisements or accessing unfamiliar websites. That makes safe browsing habits particularly important.
Startups handling privacy-sensitive research may also explore specialist tools such as Tor Browser, which routes traffic through the Tor network to provide additional privacy. However, browser choice should complement rather than replace protections such as updated software, access controls and multi-factor authentication.
Customer Trust Is Part of the Test
Security incidents do not only create technical problems. They can also undermine the trust a young business has spent years developing.
Which? reported in November 2025 that £11.8 million was lost to online shopping fraud between November 2024 and January 2025, highlighting the scale of risk surrounding the busiest shopping period.
Use Black Friday as a Rehearsal
The smartest startups can treat Black Friday as more than a sales opportunity. Reviewing account security, backups, payment systems and staff awareness before demand peaks can reveal weaknesses that matter throughout the year.
If a startup can remain secure during one of ecommerce’s busiest weekends, it will be better prepared for the growth that follows.
Author: Kokou Adzo
Kokou Adzo is the editor and author of Startup.info. He is passionate about business and tech, and brings you the latest Startup news and information. He graduated from university of Siena (Italy) and Rennes (France) in Communications and Political Science with a Master's Degree. He manages the editorial operations at Startup.info.