IT administrators and operations managers are responsible for overseeing much of any given organization's incumbent security practices. Upholding best cyber defense practices and maintaining a robust posture across systems and networks is a constant balancing act, especially given the evolving threat landscape of today.
As malicious actors find sophisticated new methods of compromising systems and exploiting valuable data, organizations have to adapt and innovate their defense strategies methodically. This is made more challenging as organizations become increasingly more "remote." Their systems and processes need to be flexible enough to scale while providing short- and long-term worker flexibility.
Luckily, new real-time collaboration tools, software, and solutions enter the market to make digital transformation challenges easier to overcome, while positioning organizations on the right path towards achieving their scaling targets.
However, maintaining oversight over the workability and value of various systems and tools is no easy feat either. Software, as we know, is increasingly prone to bugs and vulnerabilities, and must be kept in good working order to maintain worker and organizational productivity. This is where the process of security patch management comes into play.
Patch management is a vital process that allows IT and operations specialists to identify, prioritize, test, and deploy relevant patches and updates for software, firmware, drivers, and APIs across an organization's entire infrastructure. Whether it's an employee desktop, a dormant endpoint device, or a cloud-based document storage system, they all need to be secured and patched. It doesn't have to be the remit of companies the size of Google, for example; patch management is crucial for organizations of all shapes and sizes.
The risks of ignoring patch management can be severe, as unpatched devices are more prone to breaches, while productivity can be impacted, not to mention the potential reputational effects should sensitive or customer data be exploited.
The process of patch management will vary depending on an organization's incumbent setup and complexity. However, the process can often be broken down into several key steps:
Undertaking these steps provides greater visibility into an organization's cyber hygiene and risk exposure, allowing IT teams to methodologically and proactively instigate the correct patches to uphold security.
Patch management, much like other cyber defense strategies such as vulnerability scanning, incident response, risk assessments, or penetration testing (pen-testing), mustn't be viewed as a siloed exercise. It should not operate in isolation; instead, it should link seamlessly with other security disciplines, control processes, and other threat containment and risk mitigation steps.
Integrating these cyber disciplines ensures that patch management complements other priorities across an incumbent setup, rather than causing obstructions or conflicts. In systems where real-time collaboration and productivity must be maintained, uptime and availability of critical systems should be a priority.
Therefore, aligning patch rollout with vulnerability management, change control, and threat intelligence is a much more efficient and proactive way to ensure that security updates are rolled out promptly and to the highest-priority devices first.
In addition, organizational patch management relies heavily on clear top-level policies and standards that rely on systematic alignment. Doing so is often a governance and compliance exercise for organizations, but patch management mustn't be ignored when establishing these policies from the off. Such policies may mandate strict timeframes for rollouts after vendors release core OS updates or application firmware patches, or perhaps dictate specific testing requirements pre-deployment.
Policies may also instruct IT teams to follow stringent criteria when determining the validity and sensibility of patches in a staging or development environment before they are rolled out into live systems and networks.
Patch management is one small piece of the overall cybersecurity puzzle, but there are crucial reasons why getting it right delivers immense value in terms of upholding correct cybersecurity and hygiene.
Implementing and upholding patch management policies is a responsibility thrust upon many IT teams, many of whom may be stretched thin. However, it's important to bear a few key tips in mind to cultivate an organization that understands, recognizes, and commits to keeping patch management top of mind when it matters.
Fundamentally, it's important to recognize that patch management offers more long-term value and advantages to organizations than drawbacks. By continually cycling through effective patch and repair regimes, businesses can drastically reduce their threat exposure and chances of succumbing to costly data breaches.
With attacks growing in complexity and frequency, patch management is evidently a crucial cyber discipline for businesses looking to remain stable in a volatile and risk-heavy threat landscape.