A vulnerability management program is a continuous, proactive, and often automated process that keeps computer systems, networks, and enterprise applications safe from cyberattacks and data breaches. It is a risk-based approach to discovering, prioritizing, and remediating vulnerabilities and misconfigurations. The goal of vulnerability management is to reduce the organizations overall risk exposure by mitigating as many vulnerabilities as possible. Vulnerability management programs typically include the following components:
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Asset discovery and inventory: Identifying all assets in the organizations environment, including hardware, software, and applications.
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Vulnerability scanning: Using a vulnerability scanner to automatically assess and understand risk across the entire infrastructure, generating easy-to-understand reports that help businesses properly and rapidly prioritize the vulnerabilities they must remediate or mitigate.
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Risk assessment: Analyzing the vulnerabilities to determine their potential impact on the organization and prioritizing them based on the level of risk they pose.
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Remediation: Applying security patches and allocating security resources more effectively to remediate vulnerabilities.
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Testing: Conducting a penetration test to ensure that the patch is valid and that there is no longer an issue before moving on to the next vulnerability.
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Reporting: Providing detailed reports to help avoid significant fines for non-compliance and allow you to provide ongoing due diligence during an audit.
Vulnerability management is essential for any organization that relies on information technology, as it helps to protect against known and unknown threats. By identifying, assessing, and addressing potential security weaknesses, organizations can help prevent attacks and minimize damage if one does occur.
