The holiday season brings a surge of legitimate emails, sales promotions, charitable appeals, and year-end newsletters, making your inbox busier than any other time of year. It is actually the busiest time of year for email. This flood of messages creates the perfect camouflage for phishing attacks, as malicious emails can easily hide among dozens of daily promotions.
Now is an ideal time to declutter your inbox and strengthen your defenses. Start by unsubscribing from marketing lists you no longer find valuable and blocking senders that repeatedly clutter your inbox.
A leaner inbox makes suspicious emails stand out. When you’re not drowning in promotional messages, it’s much easier to notice the telltale signs of phishing: unexpected sender addresses, urgent language demanding immediate action, suspicious links, or requests for sensitive information. You’ll spot the fake “package delivery” notice or fraudulent charity appeal much faster when it’s not buried under thirty legitimate sales emails.
Think of this as preventive maintenance for your digital security. By reducing inbox noise during the busiest email season of the year, you’re giving yourself the mental clarity to identify threats. A few minutes spent cleaning up subscriptions today can save you from falling victim to a sophisticated phishing attack tomorrow.
Your attention is a valuable security tool, don’t let inbox clutter dull it.