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Vulnerability Management

What You Need to Know About the Vulnerability Management Lifecycle

Chris Ayliffe

Chris Ayliffe


Chief Marketing Officer

04.04.23


9 min read


It’s very easy to become overwhelmed when thinking about cybersecurity. It seems like there’s some sort of virus, bug, or scam lurking almost everywhere these days. It’s true that the threats to cyber security that businesses and even the general public face every single day have never been higher, but you might not need to stress as much as you think because the methods of dealing with these kinds of problems have also evolved and become more sophisticated. 

If you’re concerned about the cyber security of your business and want to be better protected against potential threats and vulnerabilities, one of the best things you can do is learn a bit about the vulnerability management lifecycle. 

So what is the vulnerability management lifecycle, and why is it important for businesses today? Below we have prepared a comprehensive overview of the lifecycle process and answered all the important questions you probably have in order to make sure you are fully armed with everything you need to know to protect your business or organization now, and in the future. So let’s get stuck in. 

What is a Vulnerability in Cybersecurity?

Surveillance system to monitor cybersecurity vulnerabilities

Understanding the meaning of a vulnerability in cybersecurity is the first step to improving your organization’s cyber defenses. A vulnerability is a weakness or point of attack that can be used by malicious actors to gain unauthorized access to your systems or exploit sensitive data

Vulnerabilities can arise from a number of sources such as outdated software, unsanitized user input, misconfigured hardware and services, lack of encryption, as well as from human error and negligence. As technology evolves at an ever-increasing pace, it is essential for organizations to regularly scan for any vulnerabilities that may exist in their network infrastructure and build comprehensive strategies that can address these issues before they result in emerging security threats.

What is Vulnerability Management in Cybersecurity?

A piece of fluorescent light hardware to symbolise an IT infrastructure

Vulnerability Management is an important part of any business's Cybersecurity strategy. It is a continuous, proactive process that helps mitigate risks and vulnerabilities by identifying, assessing, remediating, and monitoring threats in a timely manner. 

Vulnerability Management can be used to detect potential weak points in your organization's security structure before they result in cyber attacks. This process should also involve regularly checking for changes to security protocols and incorporating best practices and policies from the industry. 

Vulnerability Management is not just about what hackers might try and do; it requires a careful strategy that proactively protects not only against cybercrime but also against internal threats, environmental exposures, and other risks. Implementing strong vulnerability management techniques can significantly reduce your risk of becoming the victim of a hack or data breach.

What Are the Main Steps in the Vulnerability Management Lifecycle?

The main steps in the vulnerability management lifecycle

The Vulnerability Management Lifecycle (VML) is an integral part of maintaining cybersecurity within any organisation. It comprises several stages that need to be consistently monitored and addressed in order to keep a business safe from potential threats. 

Broadly speaking, the main steps that occur as part of the VML are: discovery, prioritization of assets, assessment, reporting, remediation, and verification.

By conducting a comprehensive assessment of current risk levels and taking all required steps to identify, control, and eliminate vulnerabilities within organization systems and networks, businesses can ensure they remain up-to-date on the latest cyber security strategies for optimum protection. 

On top of this, evaluating vulnerability management activities against the intended goals helps pinpoint where further action must be taken. To put it simply, having a robust VML process in place offers businesses peace of mind knowing their defenses are up-to-date against some very real external dangers.

The six main steps of a good VML are below. 

Discover

The Discover stage of the vulnerability management lifecycle

Discovering vulnerabilities in your digital system is just as important as fixing them. This is the fundamental step of the vulnerability management lifecycle and should be taken seriously if you want to ensure long-term security. Through a combination of manual and automated methods, it is possible to identify any weaknesses that could lead to an attack on the network. 

During this stage, it can also help find possible misconfigurations or coding errors which can make systems vulnerable. Ensuring regular discovery processes help identify any potential threats before they become an issue so that they can be addressed without damaging your business's reputation or revenue. With discovery, businesses gain visibility into existing risks and are able to build better strategies for keeping their networks safe from potential threats.

Prioritise Assets

The Prioritize assets stage of the vulnerability management lifecycle

Prioritizing assets when it comes to cybersecurity can be one of the only things that give you the upper hand when it comes to hackers. 

The priority stage of the VML is when companies assess their digital assets, identify areas that are vulnerable, create an overall risk rating, and then decide what needs to be dealt with first. 

In general, the most important assets should be protected first; these are typically such as your customer records, accounts and financial systems, critical infrastructure, and intellectual property. 

Risk assessments should account for the security of these high-value assets, as well as any others that may have particular sensitivities or value. In addition to that, ensuring the safety of customer data is incredibly important, so take measures that ensure customer data is always secure. 

Prioritizing valuable or sensitive information will help ensure your business has optimum security protecting its data from hackers or other cyber threats.

Assess

The Assess stage of the vulnerability management lifecycle

Assessing the security posture of your organization is a critical step towards vulnerability management, as it helps to identify any gaps in procedures and controls. With a comprehensive assessment, businesses can quickly ascertain if they are exposed to any potential risk or threats that malicious groups or individuals may exploit. 

During the assessment process, you’ll want to ensure that security requirements are thoroughly documented and understood by all relevant stakeholders. It’s important to keep in mind that this isn’t necessarily a one-time process; assessments should be performed regularly as part of an ongoing risk analysis planning cycle. Proactively developing a plan to mitigate any existing gaps identified in the assessment will ultimately help you stay ahead of any potential vulnerabilities that could put your data and systems at risk. So keep assessing, and prevent those cyber monsters from wreaking havoc!

Report

The Report stage of the vulnerability management lifecycle

The reporting phase is one of the most important parts of a thorough Vulnerability Management Lifecycle. A report provides actionable insight into the current state of your systems and highlights any areas that are ripe for improvement. 

It's essential to create a culture of continuous review, as well as to document changes made over time. Not only will this help you track progress, but it also allows your team to discuss findings and make decisions going forward. 

Remediate

The Remediate stage of the vulnerability management lifecycle

Once vulnerabilities have been identified and classified, it is essential to take action in addressing them. Remediation is the process of mitigating and preventing the exploitation of these weaknesses, which can drastically reduce cyber threats in the long run. 

Remediation consists of replacing or patching outdated software, eliminating user privileges that are no longer applicable, and hardening systems as necessary. 

Businesses must take ownership of this process, guiding their teams to make informed decisions that adhere to industry-relevant standards for security. When well done, remediation showcases an organization’s commitment to protecting its data and other assets.

Verify

The Verify stage of the vulnerability management lifecycle

When it comes to vulnerability management, verifying is one of the most important steps. This includes confirming the vulnerability assessment and vulnerability remediation processes have been completed correctly and all organizational objectives have been met. 

It’s essential that you take your time during this process; a single missed step could open your organization up to a whole host of risks. Many organizations try to rush through this final stage of their security lifecycle, but you should resist this temptation and ensure that all relevant steps are taken with precision and accuracy. 

Once everything has been verified, your company can then move on with increased confidence in keeping its sensitive data secure.

What Steps Should You Follow to Implement an Effective Vulnerability Management Program?

Steps you should follow to implement an effective vulnerability management program

Establishing an effective vulnerability management program is essential for businesses that want to achieve a high level of cybersecurity. While there are many aspects to consider when setting up such a program, following the steps provided by security experts and analysts can help ensure success. 

First, it is important to apply vulnerability assessment tools, processes, and practices to identify exposures that may be present in your organization's external networks and applications. Once identified, these vulnerabilities must be patched, mitigated, or otherwise managed with prioritized actions or risk mitigation plans. Continuous monitoring of changes in vulnerabilities as well as current threats should be conducted; this allows organizations to continually evaluate their exposure levels and react quickly to changes before they lead to potential intrusions or attacks. 

Finally, it is crucial that organizations understand the effectiveness of the implemented vulnerability management actions; this requires regular assessments and reviews throughout the lifecycle so any risks or emerging issues can be quickly identified and addressed. Following each of these steps can result in an effective vulnerability management program that guards against computer security threats which in turn allows businesses to achieve a high level of cybersecurity protection.

Some examples and suggestions of how to begin implementing the steps of a good VML are below. 

Discover Assets

The importance of discovering assets as part of the vulnerability management lifecycle

Maintain an updated list of all your hardware, software and digital assets. Make a habit of regularly scanning both your internal and external environments; this includes developing processes and tools that can help you identify new devices as they're added or modified on your network. 

By having visibility into the configuration settings of all assets, you can make sure that any necessary vulnerabilities are recorded and tracked. Don't let future security risks go undetected, be prepared by knowing what's out there on your network.

Assess Your Assets

A microscope symbolizing the importance of assessing your assets in vulnerability management

This step can be a daunting process, since many businesses are unaware of which systems, networks, and data they possess, let alone how they all interconnect. However, this assessment is extremely important in order to understand potential weaknesses as well as applicable threats. 

A great starting point is to collect logs and use an automated system such as a security information and event management platform. Gathering this data will provide valuable insights about what needs further investigation and protection measures. From there, you can create an incident response program if vulnerabilities are discovered or exploited. 

Find and Assess Vulnerabilities

A magnifying glass to symbolise finding and assessing vulnerabilities in a company's IT infrastructure

When it comes to known vulnerabilities, the best way to protect your business from attack is to find and assess them before they can be exploited. To help get up to speed, a vulnerability management lifecycle provides a structured approach to identifying, analyzing, and managing them. 

Begin by drafting an assets inventory list of all resources that need protection. This involves capturing all assets that are part of IT networks, mobile devices, or cloud applications along with tracking their current and future operating system versions. 

The second step is collecting data on existing security assessments, such as patching policies or network configurations. During this stage, it’s important to document the actions taken toward remediating identified risks. Once awareness of the security landscape has been established, the next step is to discover potential hidden threats that have not yet been documented

Vulnerability scanning tools should be used for an in-depth look at what threats may be lurking within the infrastructure which could result in unauthorized access or damage if not addressed properly. Regularly comparing these scans with known security patches will act as a guide moving forward when applying vulnerability fixes. Active monitoring of these assessments should also take place following implementation in order to guard against new attacks and alert staff members if changes are detected from the original scan results.

Report and Prioritise Vulnerabilities

The importance of reporting and prioritizing cybersecurity vulnerabilities

The vulnerability management lifecycle does not end with simply scanning for vulnerabilities. After the scan is complete, it is critical to record and prioritize the vulnerabilities that were found in order to determine which ones should be addressed immediately. 

When considering the prioritization of a vulnerability, you should think about how likely an attacker can exploit it, as well as any potential damage that could occur from doing so. Once this assessment has been done, it becomes easier to prioritize remediation and prevent security breaches before they happen.

Remediate Vulnerabilities and Verify

Solving vulnerabilities in your IT infrastructure through remediation activities

When it comes to remediating and verifying vulnerabilities, each business should develop a plan of action that fits its individual network environment. In order to ensure complete coverage, it’s essential to identify potential attacks and assess existing technology before taking any necessary steps

This strategy allows different teams within a business to be on the same page when applying fixes, as well as putting procedures in place for regular maintenance checks on various systems. Although this may be time-consuming, ensuring all assets are up-to-date is absolutely critical for minimizing security risks from an attack or breach; a vital component of mitigating risk in any organization.

Continuously Improve

Vulnerability management requires ongoing continuous improvement with regular scanning and remediation

When it comes to staying secure, it's important to look beyond the set-and-forget approach and continuously improve instead. Vulnerability management is an ever-evolving environment and requires ongoing attention. 

It can be a daunting task to stay on top of new tools and technologies that proactively address emerging threats, but adopting a vulnerability management program that encourages continuous improvement allows you to find opportunities for further security advancement across your organization. 

This ensures not only the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of your data now, but also in the future. Understanding your current vulnerabilities as well as actively pursuing zero-day threats gives you the peace of mind that your business remains secure amidst any changes or updates in cybersecurity regulations. 

Additionally, instituting repeating security reviews helps to identify areas for improvement so that your team can make strategic decisions when implementing solutions. All in all, by maintaining a culture of continuous improvement within your organization’s vulnerability management program you will ensure that any risks are identified and managed efficiently while preserving the reliability and trustworthiness of your services.

How Can Nanitor Help You with Vulnerability Management?

Managing your organization's vulnerabilities can be overwhelming. Gaps in security lead to high-risk threats, so it's important for businesses to continuously assess, monitor, triage, and remediate any risk.

That's where Nanitor comes in. Nanitor helps you stay on top of your vulnerability management lifecycle with a seamlessly integrated solution that covers all aspects; from initial scanning and detection to automatic alerting and patching. 

Nanitor provides full visibility into every step of the process, as well as powerful reporting capabilities so you can accurately measure your security posture. 

With its user-friendly design, powerful features, and robust product support - Nanitor is designed to take the stress out of vulnerability management so you can make decisions faster and more confidently. If you would like to hear more, take advantage of Nanitor’s Free Vulnerability Management Audit, take a free trial, or schedule a demo with an expert today. 

Conclusion

The importance of protecting your IT infrastructure from cybersecurity vulnerabilities

All in all, the vulnerability management lifecycle is an essential element of any strong cybersecurity strategy. By taking the time to understand the various steps and how to apply them to your environment, you can ensure that your organization is better protected and more prepared for whatever cyber threats come its way.