What is Patch Management
What is patch management?
Patch management is the process of identifying, acquiring, testing, and deploying updated codes on existing applications, software, and hardware. These updates may be released due to code fixes, new features, increase performance, or to address a known vulnerability.
What are patches?
Software and hardware patches are necessary and required updates and fixes to services after it has been released. They are part of the lifecycle management of a device. Think of the actions a new computer takes after you purchase it. It logs into the network and searches for the latest software, bios, and hardware updates. This is done for you initially but unless you keep your computer set to automatic updates it will gradually fall behind and miss the latest releases. Now, take that concept and multiply it by thousands and you will have a better understanding of the major task a large corporation must take in order to keep all of their devices up to date.
Patch Management Services.
Organizations can keep their software and systems up to date using either a centralized or cloud-based patch management service. This could be a localized service or a cloud-based service. A good patch management service will scan, and inventory all known devices and identify their current running version. The system will correlate this information against its database to check it if is running the manufacture's latest version. The system will also prioritize certain patch updates depending on the criticality and the level of risk to the organization.
The next action the system takes depends on the organization, since the updates to the latest version can be done automatically, the system will download and deployed the updates depending on the rules set by the administrators. After the updates are completed, the system will automatically notify the administrators of the latest status and record the results to its database.
If a manual process has been defined, the system or the program can be designed to notify the department responsible for change management to have them decide which systems or applications are at the highest risk levels and when is the best time to schedule a maintenance window for remediation.
Why do organizations fall behind on Patching?
Some patch updates are service impacting and require downtime of devices and applications which can be disrupted to the day-to-day operations. Other companies only perform patching during a certain maintenance window, usually once a month, during a weekend between a specific set of hours. Some organizations have policies in place for testing and verification of patches prior to release since the probability of intermittent issues or a system crash does exist. Finally, some just can’t keep up due to tens of thousands of servers, IoT devices, desktops, laptops, firewalls, routers, etc.
In Conclusion
It is best for organizations to test and deploy updated patches as soon as possible because the longer the delay the higher the security risk. Out of date software and devices are an open house to Cybercriminals, who are always scanning and searching for vulnerabilities and waiting to attack. Keeping your software and infrastructure patched with the most updated versions will add a layer of security, mitigate breaches, and decrease your threat landscape.