Cyber Brief: Critical patching gaps, supply chain risk and UK outages

Today’s activity highlights three recurring but escalating risks: organisations delaying critical patching during year-end freezes, renewed warnings about supply chain compromise and fresh UK operational outages linked to configuration failures. These developments emphasise why strong governance, consistent patching and visibility across dependencies remain essential.

Critical patching delays increase exposure as attackers exploit year-end change freezes

Security researchers report a rise in exploitation attempts against vulnerabilities disclosed over the last two weeks, with attackers targeting sectors known to enforce strict December change freezes. Organisations delaying updates to avoid operational disruption are inadvertently increasing their attack surface, particularly for internet-facing systems and identity-related components.
Recent cases show attackers using automated reconnaissance to identify unpatched endpoints within hours of disclosure. Once an outdated component is located, threat actors typically chain further weaknesses such as misconfigured identities, exposed service accounts or outdated libraries. The risk increases when organisations assume defensive tools will compensate for unpatched systems, as attackers often exploit logic flaws or endpoint behaviours outside the scope of signature-based detection.

Why it matters
Year-end stability is important, but so is security. Organisations should authorise emergency patch exceptions for high-impact vulnerabilities, validate compensating controls and ensure monitoring captures exploitation attempts.
Source
Vulnerability and exploitation trend analysis

Supply chain compromise risks rise as attackers target trusted vendor integrations

A series of recent security assessments show that many organisations still depend heavily on vendor-supplied integrations, remote access tools and automation connectors without adequate validation of the security controls behind them. Threat actors are increasingly exploiting this trust by targeting smaller suppliers with weaker defences, then leveraging privileged integrations to access multiple downstream environments.
Investigations into recent incidents reveal that attackers often gain footholds through outdated remote support tools, misconfigured API integrations or unmanaged service accounts created by third-party providers. Because these pathways appear legitimate, they can bypass traditional detection methods and allow attackers to move laterally without triggering immediate alarms.

Why it matters
Supplier access paths must be treated as high-risk assets. Organisations should review vendor permissions, enforce multifactor authentication for remote tooling, and ensure suppliers provide evidence of secure configurations and monitoring.
Source
Supply chain and integration security assessments

UK operational outages highlight configuration and change management weaknesses

Several UK organisations have reported operational disruption linked to configuration errors introduced during routine maintenance. Although these were not caused by malicious activity, the outages resulted in delays to customer services, access issues and temporary suspension of internal systems. Reviews show common issues such as untested configuration templates, inconsistent rollback procedures and changes applied without adequate dependency mapping.
Operational outages, whether cyber-related or not, demonstrate how small misconfigurations can create significant disruption in time-sensitive environments. The incidents also underline the importance of unified logging and alerting, as some teams identified issues only after customers reported system failures.

Why it matters
Configuration hygiene is as important as vulnerability management. Organisations should strengthen approval processes, test rollback steps and ensure monitoring provides early visibility of misconfigurations before they cascade.
Source
UK operational resilience reviews

Today’s Key Actions

1. Approve emergency patching for critical vulnerabilities, even during change freezes.
2. Review supplier access routes, including APIs, remote tools and persistent service accounts.
3. Validate configuration templates and ensure rollback steps are tested and documented.
4. Strengthen logging and monitoring to detect early signs of compromise or misconfiguration.
5. Reassess December operational risk, ensuring both stability and security are balanced effectively.

Secarma Insight

As the year closes, attackers take advantage of reduced staffing, slower change processes and higher dependency on automated systems. Strong configuration governance, disciplined patching and supplier oversight remain essential to maintaining resilience. Organisations that manage these fundamentals effectively can enter the new year with greater operational confidence and reduced cyber exposure.

Get in touch with us to prioritise your next steps and strengthen your security posture.