“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.
Make patching a piece of cake with ManageEngine’s Patch Manager Plus
Shedding light on Patch Manager Plus’ interesting attributes
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Deploy “Patch Manager Plus” to Automate Your Patch Deployment
Keep your network up-to-date and patched round the clock with Patch Manager Plus that Powered to patch 850+ third-party applications
Not only does it alleviate the stress of needing to regularly perform manual efforts but it also simplifies the process of managing multiple operating systems, patching 850+ third-party applications, and generating detailed reporting.
With Patch Manager Plus, patch threats, and vulnerabilities in a timely manner
Third-party updates support within 6-9 hours of vendor release.
Security updates support within 12-18 hours of vendor release.
Non-security updates support within 24 hours of vendor release.
What about updates for all the other non-Microsoft applications?
Your endpoints could be vulnerable to attack if third-party applications do not receive timely patches.
You cannot overlook patching third-party applications.
It is essential to apply these patches to each and every workstation.
With Patch Manager Plus:
– Patch 850+ third-party apps—like Adobe, Java, and more—all from a centralized location.
– Take advantage of pre-built, tested, and ready-to-deploy packages for non-Microsoft applications.
Construct a deployment policy for your enterprise
You can schedule deployment based on your organization’s needs by specifying which weeks and days you want the patches to be deployed. For example, you can schedule auto-deployment to occur every weekend and Patch Tuesday.
Also, you can choose the best time to deploy patches by defining the start and end time in Deployment Window.
In today’s constantly evolving digital world, patch management needs to be a primary concern for every organization.
Although patch management can be a complicated and time-consuming process, the consequences of not using it surpass the efforts involved.
Keeping your network regularly updated may prevent significant data loss, financial harm, and security breaches.
By being precise and diligent, organizations may lower the risks of cyber-attacks and ensure the long-term success of their business.
Learn how our ManageEngine’s patch paladin Patch Manager Plus lets you do all of these to enhance the security posture of your network infrastructure!
The post Patching On Time, Thwarts Cybercrime – Security Patch Management Guide appeared first on Cyber Security News.
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