Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

As we wrap up Cybersecurity Awareness Month (CSAM) 2022, the final topic we’ll cover is updating software and patching vulnerabilities. According to the 2022 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) from Verizon one of the top paths threat actors use to infiltrate organizations is exploiting vulnerabilities. And there appears to be no end in sight as the number of unique security vulnerabilities rose almost 10% in 2021, up to 20,142 from 18,351 in 2020.

Organizations are always concerned with improving efficiencies to make business flow smoother. Some of the biggest inefficiencies in any business revolve around time wasted on operational tasks. Whether it is a stale accounting process, or something as trivial as routing phone calls to the proper department, saving time by improving a process can mean more profits, which is what business is all about.

The strength of your patch management strategy is vitally important to your overall cybersecurity strategy. Keep reading to learn more about how to create a patch management strategy.

There’s a saying in the cybersecurity community which states that just because you are compliant doesn’t mean that you are secure. Over the years, many images have been used to illustrate the point. One memorable image is that of a nude bicyclist wearing a helmet. By all standards, that is the epitome of “compliant, but not secure”. Many organizations have shifted the focus away from merely achieving compliance, to being both compliant and secure.

Patch management is the process of tracking security bug(s) and applying updates (code changes) on them in existing applications, software, or programs on a computer and other technologies to improve the functionality and security of already released programs installed in systems.