In the corporate cybersecurity strategy, prevention is a fundamental factor. Identifying and correcting digital systems’ vulnerabilities is the primary tool to prevent hackers from exploiting them to violate the company’s network. The vulnerability assessment process typically performed periodically at the device and network infrastructure level, allows you to identify security holes and plan for patching. This intervention method has a fundamental value, also at a regulatory level, but it encounters limits that can be overcome through an approach inspired by vulnerability management. Novanext, system integrator, security advisor, and training center, explains how to manage vulnerabilities in a landscape where cyber security is increasingly at risk.
The Time Factor
The time factor is a fundamental element in the updating cycle of software and operating systems in the corporate network. If the endpoints for personal use or the single employee from this point of view do not pose particular problems, in interventions involving more structured or mission-critical systems, things are much more complicated. A test and compatibility check phase must precede the security patches’ application. A process that necessarily takes time but which opens up a series of problems. The first and most apparent concern is widening the window available to hackers to exploit the vulnerability.
The second, on the other hand, relates to the possible changes that occurred during the process. The release of a service pack or a feature update occurring during this period may change the framework and require further checks or adjustments before the patch is implemented. In other words, the risk is that the picture “photographed” in the assessment phase no longer corresponds to the real one. The solution to the problem passes through the adoption of a logic of vulnerability management.
From Assessment To Vulnerability Management
Implementing a vulnerability management system requires, as a first requirement, the preparation of a network scanning system that allows one to perform an assessment more frequently than those typically adopted. The adoption of permanent sensors makes it possible to complete a survey of the status quo every week rather than occasionally (as generally happens in traditional “one shot” processes) and consequently have real-time visibility of the network security level. Thanks to cloud technologies, it is also possible to use scanners that operate outside the network, thus allowing you to perform an analysis on several fronts. The results are centralized in a dashboard that allows you to have an overview of the situation, ensuring maximum transparency in terms of vulnerability analysis. Furthermore, immediate intervention can also be entrusted to virtual patching techniques (through the adoption of Intrusion Prevention systems), which allow systems to be secured even without updating.
Definition Of Priorities And Integration In Management
Having a real-time view of the vulnerabilities present on the corporate network allows more excellent timeliness in interventions and better management of priorities. Thanks to the granular analysis offered by the permanent assessment system, the vulnerability management process will enable you to define a hierarchy in interventions and operate where there is a greater need.
Additionally, the possibility of integrating the platform with patch management tools makes it possible to automate a large part of the interventions, thus reducing both the time required for interventions and the workload for the IT managers involved in the operations. All in an “as a service” logic, which allows not only to rely on those with the skills and tools available to provide the service with the necessary continuity but also to optimize costs by avoiding the demanding investments that require implementation on the premise of such a system.
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