Patch Management Best Practices
As cybersecurity threats continue to evolve, companies regularly discover new vulnerabilities in their software that can be exploited by hackers. Patches are small updates issued to fix these security gaps. In addition to security fixes, patching can help with an entire array of tasks, such as adding new features or functionalities to your existing software, improving the look and feel of your software, and ensuring the optimal performance of your applications.
According to a study conducted by the Ponemon Institute, 57 percent of cyberattacks were preventable incidents that could have been avoided with a simple patch. This is why managed service providers (MSPs) and IT departments need a patch management strategy to ensure that their IT network is protected from all vulnerabilities.
Coming up with a patching strategy requires time and effort. However, it is an essential part of your overall security framework. If you wish to have a foolproof patching system in your IT network, you need to follow these patch management best practices.
The first step in patch management involves taking an inventory of all the assets in your IT network. Only when you have taken a full inventory will you be able to identify known vulnerabilities and discover patches for them.
Your inventory should cover the following details:
The next step involves consolidating all the software versions in your IT network. This includes operating systems, third-party software titles and custom software titles. By consolidating your existing software, you can deploy similar patches throughout your network and ensure consistency across your software ecosystem. You also need to gather information on the server software.
For instance, support for Windows 7 officially ended in January 2020. When developing a patching policy, you need to keep this in mind and come up with an appropriate strategy for any endpoints that may still have the Windows 7 OS. As part of your patching policy, you need to periodically review the software titles you use and the purpose of using them.
Once you have taken a full inventory of your assets and consolidated your software versions, it is time to categorize them based on their risk levels and priority. Patching is equally important for all the assets in your network. However, there might be some critical assets that are more important than other assets. For instance, key production servers hosting customer-facing services are more critical than assets such as endpoints used by interns in your organization. You need to prioritize patching for these critical assets first and then focus on non-critical assets.
If a particular asset is more exposed to vulnerabilities, it should be patched first. Any weak link in your network can compromise your overall security and put you at immense risk. Only when you assign priority levels to your systems can you come up with a strong patch management policy.
Creating a patch management policy is extremely important for all MSPs and internal IT departments. The process covers different steps such as obtaining, installing and testing patches. A patch management policy helps create a blueprint for each step of the process. It focuses mostly on when to install patches, what patches must be installed first and how to install patches.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to patch management. Even within the same organization, there might be different types of patches required based on operating systems, priority levels, patching frequency, etc. With a clear patch management policy, these updates are easy to monitor and quicker to roll out.
It is quite common for IT networks to have a range of third-party software titles in their system. It is highly important to keep up with the update announcements of your third-party software vendors. For instance, ‘Patch Tuesday’ is a common term associated with Microsoft updates since Microsoft regularly releases patches on the second or fourth Tuesday of each month. However, you must look for updates from other vendors as well.
When you get patch notifications, your policy should clearly state how long you should wait before they can be rolled out. For critical systems or for patches that have been marked as critical by the software manufacturer, immediate patching is recommended. However, for non-critical systems, you could wait a while before bug-free and tested patches are available.
Scheduling a routine patching timetable is a great way to protect your systems from vulnerabilities. You may fix a specific day of each week to roll out your patches for various software titles. However, this is recommended only for non-critical patching. It goes without saying that critical assets should be patched as and when an update is available.
You may use a powerful patching tool that helps ensure updates are applied correctly, on time and to a predefined schedule.
Testing is a critical part of your patching strategy. Some patches may be incompatible with your IT network. Untested patches could introduce new issues to your software ecosystem and may even bring your productivity to a halt.
The best way to do this is by creating a testing environment with endpoints that are not tied to your productivity. You need to update patches in these endpoints first and then test for complications, bugs and incompatibilities. Only when there are no issues should you go ahead with a wide-scale rollout.
Once testing is done, you can proceed with the company-wide rollout of patches. When rolling out patches, you need to take extra care to not overload the network so you may need to phase the roll out of the patches. You also need to watch out for high-productive periods when patching can come in the way of your employees’ productivity and performance.
To be on the safer side, it is always advisable to roll out your patches outside of your standard working hours. During your deployment, make sure you follow all the patch management policies you created at step 4.
Patch management does not end with the deployment of patches. You need to conduct a periodic review to check if the patching process occurs seamlessly without any issues. In this stage, you need to look for post-deployment issues that could potentially harm your IT network. If there are any issues detected, you need to have a roll-back plan to return to the state before the deployment of patches.
Making continuous improvements is essential for a strong patch management strategy. As security threats continue to increase, your patch management process should become more efficient and secure. When it comes to making improvements, you need to automate as much as possible to reduce the burden on your development teams.
As you progress with your patching process, you will discover new ways of making improvements and mitigating risks. You need to keep incorporating them with the help of an automated patch management tool to ensure a secure as well as productive IT environment.
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