Post-Holiday Cyber Hygiene: Cleaning Your Organization’s Critical Accesses
After the year-end close and festivities, organizations often face a dangerous “digital hangover.” During the holidays, relaxed controls and the widespread use of temporary remote access points create vulnerabilities that attackers exploit to infiltrate networks silently.+1
Maintaining a robust security posture in January is not just an option; it is a necessity to ensure business continuity. Ignoring the accumulation of obsolete permissions is essentially leaving the door open to incidents that could have been prevented with a routine review.
The Invisible Risk of Permission Accumulation
The primary issue lies in the expansion of the attack surface. During the holidays, it is common to grant elevated privileges to temporary collaborators or enable emergency remote access points that are never subsequently revoked.+2
It is estimated that 82% of security breaches involve the human factor and deficient identity management. If an attacker compromises an account with forgotten high-level privileges, the impact can be devastating, leading to data exfiltration or the deployment of Ransomware.+3
The Solution: Digital Cleanup Protocol
To mitigate these risks, it is vital to implement an internal Consultancy process to audit the current state of the network and reinforce organizational culture.+3
Identity and Credential Audit
The first step is a thorough review of all active accounts. It is fundamental to revoke third-party access and verify that no shared credentials exist. If your infrastructure’s complexity is high, utilizing CISO as a Service allows this cleanup to be led professionally and strategically.+2
Reinforcing the Human Factor
Cyber hygiene is as much cultural as it is technical. This is the ideal time to launch a Training program to remind employees about the importance of reporting Phishing attempts, which often increase after the return to the office as attackers target new or reset passwords.+3
Third-Party and Supply Chain Control
Do not overlook the permissions granted to external vendors during the year-end period. Proper Supplier Management ensures that no business partner maintains an unnecessary persistent connection to your critical systems, thereby meeting PCI DSS and ISO 27001 standards.+2
Conclusion
Post-holiday cyber hygiene is the first pillar of a resilient 2026. Cleaning critical access not only reduces operational risk but also strengthens the strategic alliance between IT and the rest of the organization. Security never stops, and your access management shouldn’t either.+1
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