What is Patch Management?
Patch Management is the process of acquiring, testing, and installing multiple patches within your business’s IT environment. This can include your operating system, any industry specific applications, business or entertainment software, firmware, and even your website.
A patch is commonly issued to correct errors or bugs in software, applications, or embedded systems. Some patches are designed to improve the functionality of programs as well.
Patches are also created when the developer detects a vulnerability that hackers could, or already have exploited.
They are also used to do tasks like:
- Download and install new drivers
- Manage and mitigate software stability issues
- Manage and mitigate operating system stability issues
- Update software
- Remove outdated features
Did you know that Microsoft releases new patches almost every week? These weekly patches can range from updating Microsoft Word or Excel, all the way to patching the Windows operating system.
Typically, when your Windows operating system is about to be patched you will receive a prompt like the one below.
How does Patch Management Work?
Patch management differs greatly depending on if a patch is being applied to a single piece of technology or an organization’s entire IT environment.
For a single computer or other piece of tech, an automatic check can be performed to check to see if any patches are available for the computer’s operating system or applications.
If the operating system or application finds a new patch, the patches can be downloaded and installed automatically.
On the other hand, if a business is looking to patch their entire IT environment, you need to have the same software version installed throughout your entire company.
This means that each specific software/application is consistent with all the same major, minor, and patch numbers across your entire environment.
Here’s an example of version number and an explanation of each digit:
To accomplish this, it is recommended that you perform centralized patch management.
This means rather than downloading patches on to each individual computer you use a server to download patches across the entire environment.
This is why a patch management policy is so important.
This approach also allows your business to have control over the whole process.
So, if a particular patch has issues, then you can determine whether to allow that patch to be deployed.
This saves time, since it can download and distribute the patch to all computers at once, instead of having to download the patch separately on to each individual computer. This approach also helps conserve internet bandwidth.
What is a Patch Management Policy?
Vulnerabilities appear in your organization’s IT environment when a piece of software is flawed, allowing cybercriminals to exploit it.
The goal of a patch management policy is to manage and mitigate these vulnerabilities through a patching process that is done consistently and is documented accordingly.
In short, this policy lists the various ways your company will manage vulnerabilities, including the various phases of testing, deploying, and documentation of patches that are applied to your business’s computers, laptops, smartphones, etc. Your patch management policy is really the “who, what, when and how” of how your patch management will work.
Why is Patch Management Important?
Patch management is an important part of managing your organization’s IT.
It allows your company to not only fix the vulnerabilities that are present in your software and applications, but in doing so allows your business to reduce its security risk.
It also increases your systems uptime, ensuring your software and applications up to date, creating an environment that runs smoother and experiences less downtime.
Compliance is also another major aspect of why patch management is so important.
With the number of cyber-attacks steadily rising, regulatory bodies have started to require a lot of businesses to maintain a certain level of security for laws and certifications like:
- Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
- NIST SP 800-171
- Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS)
- Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC)
Patch management also updates the features and functionality of applications and software. This means your organization can have access to the latest and greatest features of the products you have purchased as soon as they are released.
Patch Management Benefits
Patch management also has other benefits as well. When you regularly patch the vulnerabilities within your IT environment, you’re helping to reduce the risk of data breaches within your business.
If your organization has services or a product that requires your customers to utilize technology, patch updates are a must. By fixing software bugs and preventing downtime with consistent patches, your customers will be happier since they will experience less technological headaches.
Fines can also be avoided with regular patching since many compliance standards require consistent patching.
Your negligence in patching updates, whether intentional or not, can lead to large fines from authorities, such as HIPAA, which are shown here:
What are the Consequences of Not Deploying Patch Management?
In 2020 there was an average of 50 new vulnerabilities each day, the majority of which are addressed in patches.
While it is not guaranteed to fix every potential vulnerability out there, it can help mitigate and manage your security in order to protect your IT environment.
Even with the importance of patch management, many organizations don’t implement security patches. Sometimes it’s because they don’t understand the risk, sometimes they don’t know about them, or sometimes they’re too busy to notice.
A good example is one of the most popular vulnerabilities to have been exploited—CVE-2010-2568.
CVE-2010-2568 is a remote code execution vulnerability that was originally patched in 2012 but is still a popular exploit for hackers.
This vulnerability was not only known to have been responsible for a ¼ of the exploits in 2016 but was also used to take out Iran’s nuclear program with Operation Olympic Games back in 2008.
Patch Management Best Practices
There are several steps you need to take in order to successfully implement patches across your environment.
- Set expectations and hold your team accountable utilizing organizational agreements. This will help ensure that your team knows what their role and responsibilities are so that your patch management plan is successful.
- Create a backup and recovery plan in case a disaster occurs. Some patches have been known to fail, so it is a good idea to be prepared in case anything goes wrong.
- Make sure everyone who is working on your company’s technology is working collaboratively and is on the same page when it comes to your patch management policy. This will ensure a successful patch management process.
Spry Squared, Inc.’s Patch Management as a Service
With new threats popping up each day, so too are the security measures that keep your company’s IT environment safe.
While patch management is technology in and of itself, focusing on just the technology aspect of patches has fatal flaws.
Installing vulnerability assessment tools or patch management software without requirements, supporting guidelines, and oversight will be a waste of time that will only further complicate an already complex endeavor.
With so many computers, applications, servers, and other devices that support your business, planning for, keeping, and using the correct techniques to keep everything up to date is a job that requires complete attention.
This is where patch management as a service comes in to play or hiring a Managed Service Provider to create and implement a patch management policy that address your company’s specific needs.
Here at Spry Squared, Inc. we know the specifics of creating and implementing a patch management policy that can manage and mitigate the risks associated with vulnerabilities within your IT environment.
Schedule a quick call today to learn more about how Spry Squared, Inc. can help you enjoy the peace of mind of consistent patch management.
