Regular patching is essential for protecting your endpoints from cyberthreats, it is a well-known fact that hackers often exploit unpatched vulnerabilities in order to penetrate the system to launch malware, ransomware, or stealing sensitive data. By applying updates promptly, organizations are minimizing these risks significantly.
Timely patching your devices improves its performance, because it has the capabilities to fix bugs that slow down operations or cause application failures. Additionally, regular updates help organizations to meet compliance with industry regulation standards which is a cornerstone for every business.
Why do patches matter? Unaddressed software vulnerabilities are like open doors for cybercriminals, where each unpatched system represents a potential entry point for malicious attacks. A robust centralized patch management strategy ensures that these vulnerabilities are quickly identified and resolved before they can be exploited.
What is a Patch Management process?
Patch management is the systematic process of maintaining software up-to-date by installing updates—called patches—to address critical security vulnerabilities, introduce new features, resolve software bugs, and enhance overall system performance. This comprehensive approach involves identifying, deploying, and rigorously testing updates across an organization’s endpoint operating systems, applications, and devices. The primary objective is to ensure systems operate with maximum efficiency and security, effectively eliminating potential vulnerabilities that could serve as entry points for cyberattacks.
Why the patch management process matter?
The patch management process is a very important part of every successful business because it creates a centralized process to deploy patches to the company’s endpoints as quickly as possible. These software patches are designed to improve security and enhance system performance, leading to boosted productivity. We will now explore the benefits that the software patch management process provides to every organization.
Security Updates
Fixing software vulnerabilities is a top priority of an efficient patch management process. Security patches are created in order to address specific security risks by remediating these weaknesses. Hackers are aware of the newest software vulnerabilities, and they are targeting unpatched systems, so if you delay a patch installation even with a few days, it could be catastrophic for your organization. This is why it is vital to apply security patches as soon as they are released from the software vendors.
Feature Updates
Some patches are released in order to bring new software features to apps and devices. These software updates have the capabilities to improve endpoints performance and employees productivity.
Bug fixes
Bugs are constantly arising and need immediate attention, for that reason some patches are released in order to fix minor software and hardware issues. Typically these bugs, doesn’t present security risk for the company, but they can definitely affect endpoints performance.
Minimizing downtime
We can definitely say that installing every patch for every device connected to your organization’s network as soon as it is released is impractical. Patching an endpoint requires downtime because employees must pause their work, wait for the patch to be installed, and reboot the systems.
Patch management takes a step ahead in the right direction by allowing organizations to prioritize the most important updates; thus, the company can install the patches based on their severity with minimal downtime and disruption to employee workflows.
What Can Be the Consequences of Neglecting Patch Management?
Keeping your assets and software up-to-date is essential in order to enhance your organization’s security posture. Delayed patching can transform your IT infrastructure into a ticking bomb of potential security catastrophes. It is a well know-fact that many businesses are constantly underestimating the importance of regularly applying the latest security patches. The bad news is that the consequences of this decision can be devastating. Let’s see what could be the consequences of neglecting the patch management process:
Financial and Reputational Impact of Security Vulnerabilities
If organizations fail to implement proper patch management processes, they are exposing themselves to high-risk vulnerabilities that cybercriminals could exploit and penetrate their systems, which could lead to data breaches, data exfiltration, malware, and ransomware.
How does this sound, like an unpleasant scenario, right? The truth is that these attacks, if successful, resulting from unaddressed security flaws, can cost companies millions of dollars in direct financial losses, regulatory fines, and long-term reputational damage. Every business owner must keep in mind that even a single unpatched endpoint can become an entry point for sophisticated cyberattacks, which can have devastating consequences for the organization.
The Domino Effect of Unaddressed Security Flaws
Each particular patch represents a critical upgrade and enhances your organization’s security posture against potential cyberattacks. If you neglect these patches or don’t install them immediately after being released from the software vendors, you are literally leaving your organization’s doors wide open for the cybercriminals, which are constantly searching for unpatched systems, where they can exploit known vulnerabilities. The patch management process is not just a technical requirement but a fundamental component of your cybersecurity strategy.
Compliance and Regulatory Risks
Nowadays, every industry has strict regulatory requirements mandating comprehensive security practices that organizations need to follow. Failing to maintain an up-to-date security posture through consistent patch management can result in substantial financial penalties, loss of crucial business certifications, and potential legal consequences.
In order to avoid such unpleasant scenarios, you can’t afford to underestimate these critical updates and have to deploy them as soon as possible after being released; thus you will avoid regulatory non-compliance and the associated punitive measure.
Performance and Operational Challenges
Beyond security and regulatory risks, neglecting patch management and not keeping your endpoints up-to-date will sooner or later lead to system performance problems, increased risk of software bugs, potential compatibility issues between applications, and a higher chance of unexpected system failures.
Unfortunately, these operational challenges can really disrupt the business continuity, reduce productivity, and create unexpected technical obstacles that drain resources and time.
Long-Term Strategic Implications
As we already mentioned, patch management ensures that every organization remains more proactive than reactive in their security approach. When implementing a comprehensive patch management strategy, businesses provide themselves with the ability to minimize potential attack surfaces, maintain optimal system performance, and, last but not least, protect their assets and customers’ data.
This strategic approach transforms patch management from a routine technical task into a critical business continuity mechanism that has to be processed on a regular basis.
Recommendation: Prioritize Patch Management
Every organization must view patch management as a vital process, not just the next time-consuming one; investing in robust patch management tools and establishing clear protocols are fundamental steps in the right direction of mitigating potential risks. Keep in mind that the investment in an effective patch management solution is minimal compared to the potential costs of a significant data breach.
What are the six steps in patch management process?
The entire patch management process requires a methodical approach to address security vulnerabilities and keep organizational systems protected. Here’s a detailed breakdown of the six essential steps that security teams need to follow to complete the patch management process successfully:
Step 1: Asset Inventory and Discovery
Patch management process always starts with creating an up to date inventory of all hardware and software assets. Security teams utilize advanced asset management tools to comprehensively map out the organization’s technological assets, because as it usually happens between the patch management lifecycles there are some new devices added to the company’s network.
This step is fundamental in identifying all systems, including servers, workstations, and network devices running various operating systems and applications. By establishing a complete inventory, organizations can accurately track potential vulnerabilities and outdated software that may require attention before executing the patching process.
Step 2: Vulnerability Assessment and Patch Identification
In this phase, security teams must conduct a thorough analysis to identify missing patches and potential security gaps. Patch management software plays a critical role in monitoring the entire network to detect vulnerabilities across different systems, which will later be closed by the end of the process.
Prioritization of the critical patches must be made based on their potential impact, severity of security risks, and potential exploitation scenarios. Thus, ensuring that the most significant threats are addressed promptly and systematically, in order to close the most critical weaknesses first.
Step 3: Patch Prioritization and Risk Analysis
As we already mentioned, not all patches have equal importance; your security team must carefully evaluate and rank patches based on their potential impact on production systems. This involves assessing the severity of security vulnerabilities, potential business disruption of the workflow, and the criticality of the affected systems. The goal is to create a strategic approach to patch deployments that minimizes risk while maintaining system performance.
Step 4: Patch Testing and Validation
Remember that you must test patches in controlled environment before being rolled out to all of your endpoints connected to the network. It is always a good idea to create a virtual environment or small group of endpoints where the test of the patches will be executed in order to ensure compatibility and prevent potential system disruptions.
This step is vital, providing your organization with the ability to validate that the updates are not causing unexpected bugs or breaking existing system functionalities.
Step 5: Patch Deployment Process
Once patches have been thoroughly tested and validated, the patch deployment process begins by installing patches across the entire organization’s network. Advanced patch management software enables systematic and controlled patch installations, helping minimize potential disruptions to production systems, which is extremely important and can save you a lot of time and headaches in case of unexpected issues with the patches that arise.
Your organization must have a phased rollout strategy starting with less critical systems before moving to more essential infrastructure.
Step 6: Verification and Continuous Monitoring
The final step focuses on confirming successful patch installations and maintaining ongoing system security. Real-time monitoring of the patch status must be made in order to verify that all systems have been updated correctly, ensuring no residual vulnerabilities remain and that everything works as expected. The final stage of the process includes generating comprehensive reports, tracking patch compliance, and maintaining an ongoing cycle of security improvement.
Patch management solutions
Many business owners view the patch management as a time-consuming and complex process; for that reason, many organizations start using vendor software that streamlines the patching process, and there is nothing wrong with that; it is exactly the opposite; this is a really smart decision.
There are two options for enterprises: either to outsource the process to an MSP company or equip their business with automated patch management software, which is able to minimize the manual intervention and maximize the results. The biggest advantage of using such software is the fact that it not only supports OS but also third-party apps, which is essential because there are various applications used through the work process of every company.
Automated Real-Time Monitoring
The automation of the patch management process works through real-time monitoring of your assets for missing or available patches. After identifying such, a patch management solution will automatically install them; furthermore, there is an option to schedule this process regarding the needs of every organization, providing the necessary flexibility to start the process in off-peak hours in order to avoid any workflow disruptions.
Testing Patches
Another patch management’s crucial advantage is the option to automate testing, which is essential as we know now; your security team can create a group of endpoints to automatically deploy the patches before being installed across your network.
Documentation
Documentation and system rollback are part of the automated and effective patch management process that the vendor software can equip your company with. With automated patch management, enterprises will no longer need to do everything manually; monitoring, approving, and patch deploying can be fully automated, which will decrease the manual intervention, improve security, and maximize the performance of your assets.
Simply put, implementing effective patch management in organizations is like hiring a security team to take care specifically with the whole process of constantly monitoring, testing, deploying, and documenting patches.
This will not only enhance security and improve overall asset performance, but it proves to be a cost-saving solution by minimizing downtime and the chance of becoming a victim of a cyberattack through timely addressing and closing system vulnerabilities. Remember, an investment in an effective patch management solution is a lot cheaper than experiencing a downtime, malware, or ransomware attack.
Patch Management Best Practices
We live in a digital world, where countless cyber threats are stalking our systems to strike at the most inappropriate moment, in case a vulnerability has been found and later exploited by the cybercriminals. Unpatched systems are like an open door for potential security breaches, transforming software updates from routine tasks into critical defense strategies.
The main purpose of successful patch management is to build a systematic approach that balances technical precision with strategic thinking. By implementing structured methods for identifying, testing, and deploying software updates, businesses have the opportunity to reduce security risks, prevent system failures, and maintain peak technological performance.
Now we will discuss nine essential best practices that form the foundation of an effective patch management strategy, providing your organization with a clear roadmap for protecting every single endpoint connected to the network.
Design a Policy-Based Approach
A policy-based patch management process template can lead to the creation of automated alerts. This means that administrators will only be required to work on a system when a vulnerability is detected. Additionally, the policy should require the automation of patch installation approval. Once administrators automate the approval process, it will be easier to install functional patches.
Your patch management policy should also emphasize the gathering and storage of all patch information. This information will be from third-party databases, software vendor sites, and other sources. When you automate the handling of patch information, you will reduce the cost of cloud-based patch management.
List All Inventory Assets
It would be best to gather an inventory of all desktops, laptops, routers, switches, and storage. Determining the operational efficiency of each IT device and creating a list of non-functioning assets is also part of this process. You can also simplify the process of tracking each asset by using RFID tags, QR codes, or barcodes. Nevertheless, you should remember that some asset tracking tools, such as specialty scanners and RFID labels, can be costly.
Your asset inventory list should include key information, such as data sensitivity, logical network address, and network type and version. If your organization lacks a centralized asset database, you can conduct a vulnerability scanning to acquire more information about assets. Getting information from NAC and DNC servers is a common patch schedule example. It would also help if you created asset naming standards and recorded each asset’s maintenance contract and RMM software licensing.
Categorize and Assign Risk Levels
As we already mentioned earlier, not all patches have equal importance; some are critical and need to be installed immediately, and others are not that important, giving you the opportunity to prioritize them correctly based on their severity. For that reason it is mandatory to develop a systematic approach to categorizing patches based on their potential impact and severity.
In order to achieve this, you have to assign risk levels to prioritize patches, addressing the most critical security vulnerabilities first. This approach minimizes the window of exposure by rapidly closing the most significant weaknesses in your system, ensuring a proactive and strategic approach to cybersecurity management.
Monitor Vendor Patch Announcements
If you want to be at least a step ahead of the countless cyberthreats, it is vital to stay informed by establishing a proactive process of following vendors’ patch announcements related to all software used by your organization.
We have to admit that this is a difficult and time-consuming task, but if you set alerts, subscribe to security advisories, and create a process for quickly reviewing and assessing new patches as they become available, this simplifies the process significantly.
Automate Patch Management
Automation has always been a very important aspect of every business around the world; the companies operating in the digital world make no exception. Automated patch management tools are known for significantly reducing human error, ensuring consistent patch deployment, and minimizing the time systems remain vulnerable by automatically installing necessary patches and closing these weaknesses as soon as possible.
Providing your company with the right patch management software that have capabilities of real-time monitoring, identifying and applying patches across your endpoints with minimal manual intervention is fundamental. Thus you will ensure that your network is secure, updated, and constantly performing at its best.
Test Patches First
Remember that deploying patches directly to your production environment is a mistake. Creating a testing environment where new patches can be thoroughly evaluated for compatibility, performance, and potential bugs is mandatory. By testing patches before deployment across your entire network, you prevent unexpected disruptions and ensure that updates are not introducing new problems while solving the existing ones.
Create a Backup
Creating a backup strategy before applying any patches is one of the most important practices of successful patch management process. Think of this as a safety measure allowing you to roll back quickly in case a particular patch causes unexpected issues. Always test and ensure that backups are complete, verified, and easily recoverable.
Deploy patches without delay
Remember that even one missing patch can become a reason for a successful cyberattack, so always install patches as soon as possible in order to close vulnerabilities and improve your device performance. Once a patch has been tested, your mission is to deploy it immediately to your every endpoint in your network. Cybercriminals are always stalking to strike when a vulnerability has been found, so delays in applying security patches leave your system exposed to already known weaknesses.
Document New Patch Applications
Maintain detailed documentation for every patch deployed. Record information such as patch details, application date, systems affected, and any observed impacts. This documentation serves multiple purposes: tracking compliance, providing an audit trail, and supporting future troubleshooting efforts.
Action1 is the only Patch Management Software you will ever need!
Action1 reinvents patching with an infinitely scalable, highly secure, cloud-native platform configurable in 5 minutes — it just works and is always free for the first 100 endpoints, with no functional limits. Featuring unified OS and third-party patching with peer-to-peer patch distribution and real-time vulnerability assessment with no VPN needed, it enables autonomous endpoint management that preempts ransomware and security risks, all while eliminating costly routine labor. Trusted by thousands of enterprises managing millions of endpoints globally, Action1 is certified for SOC 2 and ISO 27001.
The company is founder-led by industry veterans Alex Vovk and Mike Walters, who founded Netwrix, which has grown into a multi-billion-dollar industry-leading cybersecurity company.
