Managing Threats When Most of the Security Team Is Out of the Office

Attackers use patience and timing to exploit holiday and low-staff periods—monitoring corporate chat, impersonating trusted colleagues, and leveraging isolated or junior staff to perform harmful actions. The article explains how reduced staffing and delayed operational tasks (like patching) increase risk, cites examples such as timing around Log4j disclosures, and recommends mitigations including verification procedures, automation, change freezes, follow-the-sun staffing, and training to reduce social-engineering and operational exposure.