Vulnerability Management and Patch Management

A vulnerability is a weakness in an IT system. Cybercriminals look for these vulnerabilities and use them to successfully gain unauthorized access to your system. A patch is an update that can be applied to fix a vulnerability. An effective vulnerability and patch management process focuses on:

• Regular scans.
• Risk assessments.
• Prioritized remediation.
• Continuous monitoring and improvement.

Conducting periodic scans, program reviews, and hiring a third-party to assess your program can significantly enhance the protection of your organization.

Vulnerability management

Vulnerability management is a proactive approach to managing security risks in your business. It involves identifying, classifying, prioritizing, and mitigating vulnerabilities in your systems and software. Vulnerability management is crucial in preventing potential threats before they can be exploited by cybercriminals. It often involves regular vulnerability assessments and security audits to detect weaknesses. The ability of a business to maintain its security posture relies on continuous monitoring and addressing vulnerabilities in a timely manner.

Patch management

Patch management is a critical part of maintaining the security and functionality of your IT systems. It involves identifying, prioritizing, and deploying patches. These patches can fix bugs, improve performance, and fix vulnerabilities. Patching involves regular patching cycles for your operating systems and other business equipment and applications. Patches should be thoroughly tested to ensure the stability with a back-up plan to revert to last known state.

Cybercriminals can potentially exploit security vulnerabilities to cause disruption to your IT systems and expose sensitive and critical data. This can lead to reputational damage, loss of revenue, or other financial losses for your business. As your business grows and becomes more complex, you will have more systems to manage.

It may be helpful to consider the steps below as you review your vulnerability management lifecycle:

Vulnerability management lifecycle

A vulnerability management lifecycle can include the following steps:

1. Perform a vulnerability scan
   • Identify all your IT assets, including all IT devices, applications, and data.
   • Use automated tools or a third-party service to scan all systems and software within your network.
   • Identify and catalogue all vulnerabilities found during the scan.
2. Vulnerability risk assessment
   • Evaluate the risk associated with each identified vulnerability.
   • Consider factors such as the criticality of the systems affected and the potential impact of the vulnerability.
   • Additionally, consider exploitability factors such as physical versus remote vulnerability, require user interaction, and evaluate the likelihood and the impact of the vulnerability.
3. Prioritize and address vulnerabilities
   • Prioritize vulnerabilities based on the risk assessment, particularly if the system is internet-facing (which means it is accessible from the internet and may be more vulnerable).
   • Develop and implement a plan to address each vulnerability.
   • This could involve applying patches, partial or full disablement of an affected component, or making configuration changes.
4. Continual vulnerability management testing
   • Regularly repeat the vulnerability scan to identify new vulnerabilities.
   • Continuously monitor for new vulnerabilities and assess their risk.
   • Hire a third-party service to periodically assess your program’s effectiveness.

Patch management lifecycle

A patch management lifecycle can include the following steps:

1. Patch identification
   • Identify all your IT assets, including all IT devices, applications, and data. This should include properties such as version number, service tag, end-of-support date, etc.
   • Use automated tools to manage your IT assets including a way to deploy patches.
   • Create a vulnerability management report containing the list of systems or applications requiring intervention.
2. Risk assessment
   • Evaluate the risk associated with not applying a patch. What scenarios could occur if you don’t apply the patch?
   • Consider factors such as the criticality of the systems affected and the potential impact of the vulnerability. Is the system internet-facing, meaning it could be more vulnerable?
   • Research and test the stability of the patch.
3. Prioritize and apply patches
   • Prioritize patching based on the risk assessment.
   • Develop and conduct a plan to apply patches, which will likely include scheduling downtime, testing, deployment, and validation.
   • When possible, include a back-out plan that ensures affected systems can be restored upon an unforeseen failure.
4. Continuous patch management
   • Regularly repeat the patch identification process to find new patches.
   • Continuously monitor for new patches and assess the risk of implementing it versus not.
   • Hire a third-party service to periodically assess your program’s effectiveness.

Effective vulnerability and patch management

The key to an affective vulnerability and patch management process is continuous monitoring and improvement. New vulnerabilities and patches are often identified regularly, and each one can have a significant impact on the security of your systems. Therefore, it’s important to periodically review and update your program, assess your programs independently, and vigilantly monitor your IT assets.