Patching On Time, Thwarts Cybercrime

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and a few minutes of cyber-incident to ruin it,” says Stephane Nappo, Global Head of Information Security for Société Générale International Banking Pole.

Although a cyber incident can be completed in minutes, they often require a week of prep—sometimes less.

A lot of things could happen in a week.

For example, that’s how long it took for me to finish this article.

Would you believe if I say that cybercriminals would have exploited unpatched vulnerabilities to take advantage of any organization within the span of my writing this article?

Yes, the typical length of time it takes cybercriminals to weaponize new critical vulnerabilities is just seven days.

Meanwhile, it takes an average of 60 days for an organization to patch a critical vulnerability.

This leaves an opening, and not just a window but wide open gates for cybercriminals to walk through and exploit vulnerabilities.

Stay compliant, stay secure

Staying secure is critical, but it is also equally important for an organization to stay compliant with regulatory standards like Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and other region-specific standards and regulations.

Failing to comply with these standards may result in financial penalties, legal repercussions, damaged reputation, or other repercussions.

Effective patch management doesn’t only save a dime but also your business.

Nip cyberattacks in the bud with Timely patching

As a part of cybersecurity hygiene, all security updates should be installed promptly, without any delay or dispute.

When a vendor releases a patch, this indicates the vulnerability has likely existed for a while.

It means the cyber attackers had a chance to know about it before the vendor did and exploit it.

Then imagine what are all the consequences your organization will be facing if you are going to take another few more months to patch the vulnerabilities.

Ha! At this point, an attacker no longer has to look for an open gate to sneak in.

This is why timely patching is imperative to keep your organization secure and unshakable.

Achieving timely patching isn’t a piece of cake

One of the biggest root causes for delay in patching is due to relying on manual processes, including:

• Manually checking for new and missing patches in the network.
• Downloading them from the respective vendors’ sites.
• Creating deployment policies that meet specific industry needs.
• Testing the patches in a pilot group of computers and approving them for deployment.
• Generating reports to track the whole patching process.

Phew! A whole heap of work, isn’t it?

Choosing the right patch management tool can be a challenge. Where do you begin?

An ideal patch management solution should:

• Support every major operating system which includes Windows, Mac, and Linux.
• Patch various types of endpoints including laptops, desktops, servers, remote devices, etc.
• Provide extensive support to third-party applications patching.
• Offer a completely automated patch management solution to save time and energy.
• Generate insightful reports to effectively monitor every stage of the patching process.