Access hygiene is the basic discipline of keeping accounts, passwords, and privileges tightly controlled. It means giving users only the access they need, removing stale accounts, using strong authentication, and regularly reviewing admin rights, remote access, and shared credentials.
In cyber security, poor access hygiene is one of the easiest ways for attackers to move from a single stolen password to a wider compromise. If credentials are reused, privileges are excessive, or backup and recovery systems are exposed, ransomware operators can disable defenses, reach sensitive records, or block restoration. Good access hygiene reduces that blast radius by limiting what any one account can do, making misuse easier to detect, and helping defenders respond before an intrusion becomes a full incident.