A Guide to Efficient Patch Management with Action1

Dec 20, 2022The Hacker NewsPatch Management / Endpoint Security

It’s no secret that keeping software up to date is one of the
key best practices in cybersecurity. Software vulnerabilities are
being discovered almost weekly these days. The longer it takes IT
teams to apply updates issued by developers to patch these security
flaws, the more time attackers have to exploit the underlying
vulnerability. Once threat actors gain access to corporate IT
ecosystems, they can steal or encrypt sensitive data, deploy
ransomware, damage systems, and more. When there’s a known exploit
for a critical vulnerability, the need to deploy patches becomes
critical.

At the same time, while IT teams race to keep their operating
systems, business applications, and web browsers up to date and
fully patched, they have to exercise caution, since applying
patches without proper testing can introduce more problems than it
solves.

The reality is, many organizations are struggling to maintain
the upper hand against threats. According to Action1’s 2021 Remote IT Management Challenges
Report^[1], 78% of organizations
admit that they failed to patch critical vulnerabilities in a
timely manner during the past year, and 62% said they suffered a
breach due to a known vulnerability for which patch was available
but not yet applied.

Fortunately, effective and continuous patch management is within
reach. This article explains the challenges and the key best
practices for overcoming them.

Why is it challenging for IT teams to manage security
updates?

Wide range of software to be kept updated

Organizations often focus on keeping their operating systems
patched. While OS patching is certainly critical, third-party
software is also subject to vulnerabilities that need to be
addressed. Indeed, organizations use a wide range of third-party
applications, from databases to web browsers, which need to be
constantly patched, too.

Infrastructure specifics

While small offices may have only a few workstations and servers
to worry about, large organizations often have a huge number of
devices to keep patched. And it’s not just the sheer volume that’s
a problem — each device might have its own hardware configuration
and installed software, which adds a great deal of complexity to
the patch management process.

Remote work

Moreover, the move to a work-from-anywhere format means IT teams
often do not have direct access to the IT assets they need to
update, which makes it even more harder to keep all corporate
machines up to date with the latest security updates. Indeed,
on-premises patch management tools have become outdated in the
modern era of remote and hybrid work.

Lack of effective processes and tools

The Action1 study found that 38% of IT teams cannot get
information about all updates in one place and prioritize them
effectively, and nearly as many (37%) say they have to use too many
non-integrated tools to track and deploy updates. Moreover, some
patch management solutions are often so complicated that they
require a dedicated specialist to use.

What are the best practices for managing security updates?

To establish an effective patch management process, consider the
following best practices:

• Inventory your systems and software — You
  can’t fix what you don’t know about. Scan your environment for
  assets and installed software, and keep track of your
  inventory.
• Group your assets — Categorize your endpoints
  based on their installed operating systems, services, and
  applications, so you can deploy patches to all affected assets
  simultaneously.
• Prioritize risks — Determine which of your
  assets are most critical from both a security perspective and a
  business continuity standpoint. Key questions to answer
  include:

Which assets must be patched immediately? What types of patches
need to be deployed promptly? What constraints are there around
patching certain assets during working hours? If an update must be
applied right away, how can you mitigate the impact on the
business?

• Test patches before deploying them
  organization-wide — Before rolling out a patch across all
  your endpoints, test it on small control group.
• Apply patches promptly — Don’t give attackers
  extra time to exploit known vulnerabilities. In particular, patches
  that address critical flaws should be applied without undue
  delay.
• Stay on top of known vulnerabilities — If you
  not aware of a threat, you can’t mitigate it. While it can be quite
  cumbersome to review all CVEs, at least get into the habit of
  regularly reviewing news in media as well as vulnerability digests
  from patch management software vendors.
• Automate — No one can manage the modern flood
  of patches effectively using a manual approach. A solid patch management software^[2] will save you time and
  ensure far more reliable results by streamlining the patching
  process.
• Cover all your devices — Be sure that your
  patch management process and solution cover not just in-office
  machines but all your remote endpoints as well.

What solutions can help?

The Action1 cloud-native patch management platform supports all
of the best practices detailed above. It relieves IT teams from the
strain of manual patching by providing them with intelligent
automation capabilities and empowering them to enforce continuous
patch compliance for their remote and in-office machines. Even
better, you can cover your first 100 endpoints completely
free^[3].