Vulnerability Remediation
Vulnerability management is the process of identifying vulnerabilities in IT and their subsequent risks evaluated so that possible precautions and solutions can be formulated. This evaluation is a preemptive approach to correct the vulnerabilities as well as possible remove the risk. Although sometimes, the risks cannot be entirely removed and as a result, there has to be a formal risk acceptance by the management of the organization and then solutions for mitigation, remediation and recovery would then be put in place for those risks.
What is Vulnerability
Vulnerability is a cyber-security term that refers to a flaw in a system that can leave it open to attack from outside. The vulnerability may also mean any type of weakness in a computer system itself, in a set of procedures, or in anything that leaves information security exposed to a threat. It is a weakness which can be exploited by a threat actor, such as an attacker, to perform unauthorized actions within a computer system. To exploit a vulnerability, an attacker must have at least one applicable tool or technique that can connect to a system weakness. In this frame, vulnerability is also known as the attack surface.
What is Vulnerability Remediation
Vulnerability discovery and remediation is a method that addresses the issues and problems of a system being exploited by intruders and the use of algorithms, known as vulnerability discovery models (VDMs). These work together with measures designed to prevent the detection of vulnerabilities or to reduce their impact to a non-critical effect in a process known as vulnerability remediation. According to the SANS Institute, vulnerability management is the means of detecting, removing and controlling the inherent risk of vulnerabilities. The purpose of an organization’s vulnerability assessment program is to establish controls and processes that will help the organization identify its vulnerabilities within the firm’s technology infrastructure and information system components. This is essential because these vulnerabilities can potentially be exploited by attackers who seek to gain unauthorized access to the organization’s systems, disrupt its business operations, and steal or leak sensitive data.
When do you need vulnerability remediation?
Vulnerability remediation Management is the practice of evaluating identified vulnerabilities, assigning risk based on likelihood and impact, planning an appropriate response, tracking the response through completion, and periodically verifying completion. If you are not confident with your organization's security or have found some vulnerabilities in your network, it is really important to remediate them. Any business or organization must remediate any kind of vulnerability if found so that they stay safe from potentially devastating attacks.
Processes of Vulnerability remediation.
Vulnerability remediation Management is the practice of evaluating identified vulnerabilities, assigning risk based on likelihood and impact, planning an appropriate response, tracking the response through completion, and periodically verifying completion. If you are not confident with your organization's security or have found some vulnerabilities in your network, it is really important to remediate them. Any business or organization must remediate any kind of vulnerability if found so that they stay safe from potentially devastating attacks.
Processes of Vulnerability remediation.
Vulnerability remediation is done in a step by step process. Following is a brief description of each step taken:
1) Implementing a threat monitoring process that allows the security team to constantly gather information about the newest or emerging threats that may affect any organization. The security team must stay current on these threats. They do this by reviewing vendor notifications of threats, patches, and system updates as well as getting information from US-CERT, which is always kept up to date with the latest information. Any threats the team uncover need to be addressed by vulnerability remediation management.
2) Conducting regular vulnerability assessments. It is not something you do once and forget. Assessment is a continuous process because the assessment is only a point in time snapshot of a situation and can change as new vulnerabilities are discovered. Therefore, organizations must ensure that they establish a formal program with defined roles and responsibilities that focus on developing and maintaining good vulnerability processes and procedures.
3) Standardize the configuration of similar technology assets within an organization based on documented configurations per applicable policies. We ensure that our security team document all baseline configurations within the organization's environment and also ensure that these documents are kept up to date and are integrated as part of the system build process and is enforced throughout the organization.
4) Remediating vulnerabilities is the practice of evaluating the vulnerabilities that have been identified, assigning risk to those vulnerabilities, planning responses to the vulnerabilities and then tracking any actions taken towards mitigating the vulnerabilities you find. Discovering faults and doing nothing about them is useless and will leave an organization susceptible to many threats.
5) Vulnerability and patch management is best important after detecting and remediating vulnerabilities. We implement processes in place to identify and confirm vulnerabilities using appropriate tools and services that will help an organization identify suspected or confirmed threat to the organization. We also analyze our finding to thoroughly understand what the risks are. Without a true understanding, how can we put the correct measure in place to deal with them. After we perform our analysis, we fix the problems found.
How vulnerability remediation improves your security
Performing regular vulnerability remediation improves your organization's security greatly. It helps to discover already existing vulnerabilities and patching them to strengthen the security posture. It also improves your organization's security by finding new gaps or weakness in the security and remediating them prepares you for any kind of future attacks.