You’ve probably heard this statistic before, but it’s worth repeating: cybersecurity attacks are up 600% due to the pandemic. That means cybercriminals are growing evermore relentless and deft with their attacks, and you don’t want your enterprise to be wide open to attacks.
Assessing and managing the vulnerabilities within your organization, whether on the network or via hardware or software, is a foundational element of a strong cybersecurity posture. Keep reading to learn more!
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Cybersecurity vulnerabilities, threats, and exploits are terms that sometimes get used interchangeably—despite having distinct meanings from one another. Before explaining vulnerability management, it's important to know what vulnerabilities, threats, and exploits all mean in cybersecurity terms:
The challenge of dealing with cybersecurity vulnerabilities, exploits, and threats is that they are always changing. Every day, new vulnerabilities and exploits are discovered, prompting attackers to create new cyber threats that take advantage of them.
Vulnerability management processes, such as vulnerability testing and patch management, are crucial for blunting new cybersecurity threats as they arise.
Vulnerability management is the practice of proactively finding and fixing potential weaknesses in an organization's network security. The basic goal is to apply these fixes before an attacker can use them to cause a cybersecurity breach.
As the name indicates, vulnerability management entails identifying, analyzing, and resolving potential vulnerabilities within your organization or network before they become exploited by an attack.
It's important to note that no standardized method of building a vulnerability management program exists. So, the methodology behind a vulnerability management system may vary from one organization to the next depending on available resources and specific risks they face.
Relatedly, a vulnerability assessment is part of the vulnerability management process. In order to identify, analyze, and resolve vulnerabilities found within the hardware and software of your enterprise, you’ll first need to perform a vulnerability assessment.
This is a foundational step for long-term vulnerability management but also provides immediate insight into your organization’s cybersecurity posture.
Network vulnerabilities represent security gaps that could be abused by attackers to damage network assets, trigger a denial of service, and/or steal potentially sensitive information. Attackers are constantly looking for new vulnerabilities to exploit—and taking advantage of old vulnerabilities that may have gone unpatched.
Having a vulnerability management framework in place that regularly checks for new weaknesses is crucial for preventing cybersecurity breaches. Without a vulnerability testing and patch management system, old security gaps may be left on the network for extended periods of time. This gives attackers more of an opportunity to exploit vulnerabilities and carry out their attacks.
What can you do to create or establish an IT vulnerability management framework in your own organization? There are a couple of ways to build out a vulnerability management program: creating the program internally or using a vulnerability management service from a managed security service provider (MSSP).
When building a vulnerability management program internally, there are several factors that you will need to account for:
Once you’ve acquired these important components of your vulnerability management program, follow these steps:
This ties back to our earlier discussion of vulnerability management versus assessment. A vulnerability assessment is an important first step in creating a vulnerability management plan because you can’t address what you simply don’t know.
Without a way to first identify vulnerabilities, your management plan will be a shot in the dark instead of an informed strategy. Identify vulnerabilities with an initial assessment and be open to employee feedback if they encounter other types of vulnerabilities.
Be sure to scan systems and applications that have access to your network, plus track the services that run on your network, including remote access portals for a comprehensive assessment.
You’ve identified a series of vulnerabilities within your network—now what?
The next step is to analyze a vulnerability's danger and estimate how much time, money, or other resources it would take to repair it. You and your team should ask some questions to determine these characteristics, including:
Each vulnerability might differ from one to another, so be sure to determine key information to make informed decisions moving forward with your vulnerability management team.
Upon realizing the severity of vulnerabilities that might be on your network, hardware, or software, it’s time to treat them.
You can prioritize which vulnerabilities to address first or which ones aren’t too risky for your organization with the following action plans:
Work with your internal IT team to determine which vulnerabilities need immediate attention and remediation, which ones can simply be mitigated for the time being, and which ones aren’t worth any action in general.
Cybersecurity threats are constantly evolving and manifesting. It’s important not to fall stagnant in your vulnerability management program—and you can avoid this by regularly monitoring existing vulnerabilities and routinely checking for new ones.
Compile reports of existing vulnerabilities and their plans of action and establish an easy way to report potential vulnerabilities across all teams within your organization. This will help your internal IT team stay apprised of present and future threats.
Is your team overwhelmed with handling an internal vulnerability management program? Partner with Compuquip today to expertly manage vulnerabilities within your organization and fortify your enterprise’s cybersecurity posture along the way.
Compuquip’s team of experienced cybersecurity professionals will work with you to assess the current state of vulnerabilities and resolve them.
Don’t neglect this crucial part of your organization’s cybersecurity strategy. Reach out to the experts at Compuquip Cybersecurity today to learn more!