ONE in five UK CISOs, CSOs and heads of IT security surveyed by Socura say they have called in sick or deliberately booked holiday to dodge Patch Tuesday, the monthly security updates from Microsoft, Adobe and others. The poll of 500 senior security leaders reveals a pattern of overtime (41%) and late finishes (37%) to manage patching, with 22% attempting to avoid the date altogether.
Socura links the trend to increasing patch volumes and mounting stress, noting that 29% feel “significant anxiety” the night before Patch Tuesday and the same share become more irritable with colleagues or family during that week. The piece underscores the mental and emotional toll on security teams, with executives urging better resourcing and support around patch cycles.
The article ties the rising workload to AI-powered vulnerability research, which accelerates flaw discovery for vendors. It cites concrete numbers from the September 2026 Patch Tuesday: Microsoft fixed a record 974 CVEs, far above the previous 570 in the prior window, with 2025 seeing 1,130 vulnerabilities published. These figures align with prior findings that a substantial portion of CISOs already work long hours, and that 43% say they cannot take time off without triggering stress upon return.
Andrew Kays, Socura’s CEO, emphasises the need to properly resource and support security teams emotionally, technically and financially, while noting AI can also relieve mundane tasks and help organisations better defend core infrastructure.