Vulnerability management is a risk-based approach to discovering, prioritizing, and remediating vulnerabilities and misconfigurations.
Vulnerability management is a continuous, proactive, and often automated process that keeps your computer systems, networks, and enterprise applications safe from cyberattacks and data breaches. As such, it is an important part of an overall security program. By identifying, assessing, and addressing potential security weaknesses, organizations can help prevent attacks and minimize damage if one does occur. The goal of vulnerability management is to reduce the organization's overall risk exposure by mitigating as many vulnerabilities as possible. This can be a challenging task, given the number of potential vulnerabilities and the limited resources available for remediation. Vulnerability management should be a continuous process to keep up with new and emerging threats and changing environments.
Threat and vulnerability management uses a variety of tools and solutions to prevent and address cyberthreats. An effective vulnerability management program typically includes the following components: Asset discovery and inventory
IT is responsible for tracking and maintaining records of all devices, software, servers, and more across the company’s digital environment, but this can be extremely complex since many organizations have thousands of assets across multiple locations. That’s why IT professionals turn to asset inventory management systems, which help provide visibility into what assets a company has, where they’re located, and how they’re being used. Vulnerability scanners
Vulnerability scanners usually work by conducting a series of tests against systems and networks, looking for common weaknesses or flaws. These tests can include attempting to exploit known vulnerabilities, guessing default passwords or user accounts, or simply trying to gain access to restricted areas. Patch management
Patch management software is a tool that helps organizations keep their computer systems up to date with the latest security patches. Most patch management solutions will automatically check for updates and prompt the user when new ones are available. Some patch management systems also allow for deployment of patches across multiple computers in an organization, making it easier to keep large fleets of machines secure. Configuration Management
Security Configuration Management (SCM) software helps to ensure that devices are configured in a secure manner, that changes to device security settings are tracked and approved, and that systems are compliant with security policies. Many SCM tools include features that allow organizations to scan devices and networks for vulnerabilities, track remediation actions, and generate reports on security policy compliance. Security incident and event management(SIEM)
SIEM software consolidates an organization's security information and events in real time. SIEM solutions are designed to give organizations visibility into everything that's happening across their entire digital estate, including IT infrastructure. This includes monitoring network traffic, identifying devices that are trying to connect to internal systems, keeping track of user activity, and more. Penetration testing
Penetration testing software is designed to help IT professionals find and exploit vulnerabilities in computer systems. Typically, penetration testing software provides a graphical user interface (GUI) that makes it easy to launch attacks and see the results. Some products also offer automation features to help speed up the testing process. By simulating attacks, testers can identify weak spots in systems that could be exploited by real-world attackers. Threat intelligence
Threat protection software provides organizations with the ability to track, monitor, analyze, and prioritize potential threats to better protect themselves. By collecting data from a variety of sources—such as exploit databases and security advisories—these solutions help companies identify trends and patterns that could indicate a future security breach or attack. Remediation vulnerabilities
Remediation involves prioritizing vulnerabilities, identifying appropriate next steps, and generating remediation tickets so that IT teams can execute on them. Finally, remediation tracking is an important tool for ensuring that the vulnerability or misconfiguration is properly addressed.