December gets most of the attention when it comes to online risk, but the period that follows often carries greater long-term impact. January consistently sees a rise in account breaches, payment disputes, device infections, and privacy issues across the UK.
This pattern is not driven by new, sudden threats. It is driven by the digital habits people pick up during the hectic festive season.
The weeks leading up to Christmas involve quick purchases, rushed account creations, and a dramatic increase in digital activity. Most people do not track every login, permission, or app they approved during that time. Attackers rely on this period of “digital fatigue.” They wait. Once the holiday rush settles and people return to normal routines, exposed accounts and insecure devices remain active and unchecked making them prime targets.
The OxCyber Warning: A lapse in vigilance in December often means a spike in recovery costs and identity theft in January.
There are three areas that tend to be exploited after the holidays:
Un-monitored Accounts
Many users create temporary logins for last-minute shopping, travel, ticketing, or courier services. These accounts often reuse common passwords and have payment details stored for convenience. If they are not cleaned up, they become easy targets in January. A breached retailer account (that you don’t check anymore) provides credentials that can be used elsewhere.
Forgotten Apps and Permissions
Seasonal apps for deep discounts, tracking events, tracking deliveries, or children’s games often remain installed with excessive access to contacts, storage, or location data. These permissions are rarely reviewed once the season ends and can be abused long after they are forgotten. These apps can quietly report on your device activity for months.
Overlooked Changes to Home Networks
Visiting relatives, new smart devices, and temporary connections leave home networks with unfamiliar access rules. Printers, smart gadgets, or borrowed devices sometimes remain connected and unpatched, creating unnecessary points of exposure that the main household users are unaware of. The lack of a simple network reset is a common vulnerability.
The January Security Reset: Your Simple Fix
The most effective time to reduce these risks is immediately after the holiday period. A short housekeeping routine prevents most January incidents.
Taking an organised approach in early January gives households and small businesses a safer start to the year. Instead of reacting to problems, a structured reset ensures the festive season does not bring long-term digital consequences.
Your Action Plan:
• Review & Delete: Remove apps you installed only for holiday use. Review and delete unused, temporary online accounts.
• Revoke Permissions: Check your mobile device settings and revoke any unnecessary permissions granted to social media or retail apps.
• Network Check: Restart your router and review every device listed on your Wi-Fi network’s connected device list. Remove anything unfamiliar.
• Password Update: Change passwords for accounts used intensively while travelling or shopping to ensure compromised credentials are reset.
These small actions close the security gaps left open during December. Have a wonderful 2026, Thames Valley!
