What is Patch management?

Threat actors are constantly innovating new approaches and discovering security weaknesses they may be able to exploit. When vulnerabilities are identified and security updates are released, patch management ensures that these updates are applied immediately, reducing the risk to the organisation and its customers.

New dangers often necessitate new regulations regarding data handling and consumer privacy. Patch management helps organisations remain compliant with new laws as they are introduced, protecting them from the consequences of non-patched (and thus noncompliant) applications.

Unpatched systems are more prone to experiencing bugs and crashes. Patch management keeps these systems up to date, so that businesses don’t have to worry about suffering unintended downtime.

Not every patch has to do with security, maintenance or repair; often, developers will release new features in their software patches, improving their product offering. Without patch management, businesses may not be getting the full functionality from their applications.

Software developers expect users to remain up to date on all patches. In fact, most will refuse to stand by system guarantees unless users are working with the latest versions. Similarly, some providers may not be willing to provide user support for unpatched apps or systems.

In addition to improving and reinforcing the areas addressed above, patch management also carries with it several other advantages. These benefits include the following:

A significant percentage of cyber breaches can be traced directly to unpatched vulnerabilities. Those companies that fail to fulfil their obligations to protect customer data may be held legally responsible. Proper patch management provides an essential line of defence—not only for customer information, but also for the organisations that collect it.

Few things are as frustrating for customers as faulty, malfunctioning applications. With patch management, customer-facing businesses can ensure that their technology offerings work as they are supposed to—fixing bugs and vulnerabilities as they arise and creating a more-positive customer experience.

A key aspect of patch management is identifying which patches should be applied. With effective patch sourcing, organisations can monitor patch-intelligence sources to find and apply relevant updates as they are released.

When there is a backlog of important patches that need to be deployed and limited resources available to deploy them, patch management may be employed to help prioritise updates based on type, severity, vendor and other factors.

Automated scheduling can establish the best times for updates to be applied, including times outside of regular work hours. This helps minimise system downtime and prevents reboot scenarios from encroaching on productivity.

Patch management makes it easy to access patch policies, track network status changes, identify missing patches and failed patch attempts, and enjoy full, real-time transparency into all updates and scheduled updates. Detailed reports may be generated at the push of a button.

With so much depending on an organisation’s IT assets, it only makes sense to be cautious when approaching patch management processes. Consider the following patch management best practices:

Intentional patch management—based on a clear understanding of the why behind the initiatives—helps keep everyone involved committed to its success. The importance of patch management should be well understood and communicated throughout the organisation.

This will help ensure widespread adoption of any patch management solutions and secure the backing of key decision makers.

Any teams or individuals who will be taking an active role in patch management will need to clearly understand their responsibilities, as well as any relevant metrics or goals that they will be held responsible for.

Patch management should be more than just an ideal; it must be something measurable and accountable. Leverage organisational agreements (including service-level agreements) help keep teams focused on and progressing towards their goals.

Applications and computer systems are extremely complex, and there's always a chance that a new update may create unintended problems. Never roll out a new patch without first testing it in a controlled environment. Once the patch has been vetted, it’s still advisable to apply it first to an isolated group of computers before trusting it with an entire network.

As previously stated, patch management is the responsibility of multiple teams and departments. Effective communication between these players helps prevent dysfunction. It is likewise important to establish common language when using technical terminology, so that everyone involved is operating on the same page.

As is always the case, it’s a good idea to establish a plan and train relevant teams on what to do in the event that the patch management solution fails. Work with IT teams and management to create and publish such a plan and make sure that it accounts for as many scenarios as possible.