Some Really Scary Halloween Costume Ideas (Thank Me Later)

It’s that time of year again! The clocks have gone back and Halloween is upon us. It can be really tough to find the right costume. Something that strikes the balance between terrifying and achievable and ideally something that doesn’t involve paper maché or a glue gun. Don’t worry if you’re struggling to think of something this year; I’ve got you covered.  In the year 2024, traditional ideas can feel outdated, passé even. Move over bedsheet ghosts, that one guy from [insert interchangeable scary movie character name here], nurses, devils and nuns. Want to dress up as something truly terrifying? Something that’ll turn heads AND make security awareness memorable? Look no further!  Crucially, I’m not talking about the image of the hooded hacker (which I believe to be outdated and I could write a whole separate blog about why). If nothing else, in this case, it’s a cop out costume. If you must dress as a scarily inaccurate portrayal of a hacker, I implore you to be Penelope from Criminal Minds (the reformed black hat hacker turned FBI Technical Analyst of my heart) or Nine-Ball (Rhianna) from the criminally underrated (according to me and seemingly only me) Ocean’s 8.  Without further ado, here are five VERY scary Halloween costumes (you can thank me later by tagging me on Instagram, LinkedIn or X).  A Phishing Email  They’re everywhere, phishing emails, and yet the gravity of them is often understated. Psychologically stressful (not unlike a scary movie) and increasingly prevalent, they make a great Halloween costume.  Creative licence is encouraged here. You have three real options: 

1. Dress up in a suit (to indicate that you’re serious business) and carry a fishing rod with a piece of paper attached that says ‘URGENT’ on it in red pen. Dangle it in front of people’s faces and annoy them until they have to address you. That’s one of the many ways they can get you, those phishing emails. Also works in the case of the MFA fatigue attack costume. 
2. Dress as an off-brand representative from a recognisable company, a postie from the Royal Male, for example. If you can look deceptively good, even better (very modern). If accuracy is not what you’re going for, that’s okay too, very old school, very pre-public-use GenAI of you. 
3. Or take matters into your own hands and become the phishing email in a more literal sense. Two pieces of foam board, some ribbon and a sharpie can create you a tabard and a deceptively good looking email. 

Group Costume: A Bad Password (Approx. Up to Eight Friends) This one’s pretty adaptable, but requires between four and six friends to be super impactful. According to the team at Specops Software, in 2024, 123456 was found to be the most commonly compromised password found in breached cloud applications (yikes). ‘Password’ and ‘admin’ continue to be predictably common passwords too!  Assign each friend a number or letter, whack it on a t-shirt. AI is making it easier to guess potential letter/number combinations, so it doesn’t matter if you split up at the party. Don’t worry either about using stars or hashes to conceal your letter or number. Treat yourself and be a password stored in plaintext – even more terrifying.  A Zombie API  Want something more traditional that also serves as a great conversation starter? Try The Zombie API. Although the zombie has long been a staple of Halloween costume past, you can elevate this classic by highlighting the API element. APIs are the building blocks of the modern internet, yet they remain relatively unknown outside of the broader cyber/tech/dev spheres. With this costume, your efforts will raise the profile of this exceptionally important (often forgotten) part of digital development, an honourable cause. Carry a bucket of ‘data’ or money and pretend to eat from it periodically – this zombie cares less for brains and more for organisational disruption, destruction and reputational damage.  Man-in-the-Middle Attacks  Dress in an unsuspecting manner (or as a stereotypical burglar if you’re going for added drama and intrigue) and surreptitiously insert yourself into other people’s conversations. Glean information, but remain undetected. Thus you’ll find yourself a successful (Wo)Man-in-the-Middle.  Mis(s) and Disinformation  A couples costume. Miss Information and her partner Disinformation often come as a pair.  Disinformation should spend the evening spreading spooky stories with absolute creative liberty and, to be most accurate, Miss Information should earnestly rehash the stories and tell them to a wider audience. Particularly pertinent in a year of elections!  Feeling inspired? I should hope so. Got any more spooky suggestions? I want to hear ‘em.