Vulnerability Management: Why is it Important?

Why is Vulnerability Management Important?

Vulnerability management is a continuous and proactive process that keeps your computer systems and networks safe from cyberattacks and data breaches.

By identifying, assessing and addressing potential security weaknesses, the goal is to reduce your organization’s risk exposure by mitigating as many vulnerabilities as possible.

It’s quite the challenge, as new vulnerabilities pop up every day, and regular patching can even expose some previously fixed vulnerabilities. The important thing to note is vulnerability management is a continuous process to keep up with new and emerging threats and changing environments.

It’s not a set-it-and-forget-it process.

Benefits of Vulnerability Management

Vulnerability management helps organizations identify and fix potential security issues before they become serious concerns. By preventing data breaches and other security incidents, vulnerability management can prevent damage to your organization’s reputation and bottom line.

Additionally, vulnerability management can improve your compliance with various security standards and regulations, such as HIPAA, ISO documentation or Gramm-Leach-Bliley rules. Lastly, it can help you better understand your overall security risk posture and where they may need improvements.

In today’s digitally focused world, running occasional security scans and dealing with cyberthreats in a reactive manner is not a sufficient cybersecurity strategy. A solid vulnerability management process has three key advantages:

Improved security and control

By regularly scanning for vulnerabilities and patching them promptly, you can make it significantly harder for attackers to gain access to your systems. Additionally, robust vulnerability management practices can help you identify potential weaknesses in your security posture before attackers do.

Visibility and reporting

Vulnerability management provides centralized, accurate and up-to-date reporting on the status of your security posture, giving your IT team or managed service provider visibility into potential threats and vulnerabilities.

Operational efficiencies

By understanding and mitigating security risks, you can minimize downtime and protect your data. Improving the overall vulnerability management process also decreases the amount of time required to recover from any incidents that do occur.

“Vulnerability management should be an important part of your organization’s security program that, if left unchecked, could result in massive damage to your operations.”

How Vulnerability Management Works

An effective vulnerability management program usually includes the following components:

Monitoring the news: Stay updated with the latest external threats and trends.
Asset discovery and inventory: Track and maintain records of all devices, software, servers and more to help track what an organization has and how it’s being used.
Patch management: A process to test, distribute and apply security updates to multiple computers in an organization.
Vulnerabilities assessment: Identify potential security threats inside your organization.
Penetration testing: Software designed to help IT professionals find and exploit vulnerabilities by simulating attacks.
Vulnerability mitigation: Improve security posture by addressing potential vulnerabilities.
Remediation: Prioritize vulnerabilities based on regulatory needs, compliance needs and theoretical damage of a successful attack.

If vulnerability management feels overwhelming, that’s OK. It’s an arduous and time-consuming process that many organizations may feel they don’t have the time or resources to initiate.

That’s where your IT staff or managed service provider comes in.

Vulnerability management should be an important part of your organization’s security program that, if left unchecked, could result in massive damage to your operations.