Every 14 seconds, a business is attacked over an unpatched exploited vulnerability. For many entities managing an organization that may have hundreds of software solution updates across their systems can be daunting. If you do not plan to patch or patch on a timely basis your organization is also susceptible to data breaches.

This guide will detail how your organization can have an effective patch management program in place to mitigate exposure for your organization. You will learn the important steps for discovering, testing, and implementing patches and also ways to manage some common roadblocks we will thank effectiveness. TVG Consulting has assisted hundreds of organizations reduce the complexity of managing patches, and we want to give you the same framework we use to decrease your security gaps and maintain stability of your systems.

• Regular patching blocks 60% of potential data breaches before an attacker exploits a vulnerability.
• Automating patch management reduces vulnerability windows by at least 71%.
• Testing your patches before implementation prevents disruptions and lengthy outages that can cost modern enterprises significantly.
• You should only prioritize critical patches first; only 2% of patches, need immediate attention.

What Is Patch Management?

Patch management is the continual process of discovering, acquiring, testing, and installing patches – tiny bits of code from vendors in response to vulnerabilities, bugs, and new features -, for all your computers and software.

This means your organization needs to manage a tremendous number of updates, and patches for operating systems, licenses for software solutions, and we can even throw in printing devices or “real” devices. Patching is a necessary component of your overall vulnerability management and cybersecurity strategy.

Why is patching in a timely manner important to your security?

When a vendor issues a patch, it is probable that they have discovered a vulnerability that could have been exploited by a threat actor. If you leave that patch for a few weeks, you are vulnerable to a possible cyber vulnerability, possible data breach, which can lead to a possible non-compliance.

In fact, up to 60% of data breaches exploited a vulnerability for which a patch existed but was not applied. Timely patch management is also important regarding system performance and stability, so a patched system should provide the organization with seamless functionality. Prioritizing patching will allow you to mitigate any risk, while also being proactive in your security posture.

Block Know Exploits before they’re Weaponized

Understanding that threat actors move quickly is vital with the re-embedding of a standard. The average time between a patch release and an attacker creating an exploit is only 12 days. This means that if you take your time with the patching process, you have probably waited too long.

Patching allows your organization to block a known exploits before they become weaponized. For example, if a software vendor issues a security patch for a critical vulnerability, as soon as you deploy that patch, you have moved all the resources outside of the attacker. If you wait to deploy a critical patch, you are aware of the vulnerability; however, your attacker has a significant launching point to compromise your digital asset or sensitive information.

Meet Compliance & Audit Requirements

Many compliance frameworks, such as GDPR and HIPAA, have requirements for organizations to patch their systems regularly to protect sensitive data from unauthorized access. You will run into penalties and failed audits as you are not managing security patch management.

Typically, the auditors will follow your patch management program and will require evidence of timely (in a timely manner) applications of patches. A strong patching program is due diligence from your organization to mitigate fines and build trust with customers and partners.

Maintain Stability and Performance

Although patch management is related to security, the also play hard to kee you operational. Patches typically resolve bugs and can frequently result in performance increases and new capabilities to existing hardware and software.

If you don’t patch, you are at risk of system outages, loss of functionality/control and creating incompatible hardware or software product that will impact use of your product or service. Your patch management program should be well structured to mitigate the risks associated with patching, to keep your systems updated, dependable and operating as efficiently as possible. So you will substantially reduce costly downtime for your team, and subsequently, your customers will have and engage in productive time.

Risks of Skipping Patches

Unpatched vulnerabilities become attack vectors for many bad actors, and can lead to a data breach, ransomware, or disruption of trust with your customers. The 2024 average data breach costs attributable to unpatched vulnerabilities was approximately $4.5 million – a 28% delta compared to breaches due to everything else (IBM, 2024).

Countless organizations incur issues due to failing their compliance audits for their organization, or face a legal challenge for tardiness of patch implementation. In fact, in 2024, 47% of organizations indicated they had a security incident from delaying patch implementation (Ponemon, 2024). The risks of ignoring patches has never add up worth the hassle.

Core Steps in an Effective Patch Management Cycle

An effective patch management process is based on a repeatable number of actions that are designed to help ensure the security and maintain a stable operating environment. The process begins with discovering all assets (hardware and software) in your organization, and prioritizing patches based on risk and vulnerability sophistication.

Patches are then tested in a safe environment so that you can find and verify any potential issues. Once testing is finished without issue, patches are deployed to production systems, and the outcome is measured. Throughout the patch management process, taking and storing formal notes, monitoring performance and reporting increase the accuracy of tools stating the patch has been deployed and available for review.

Documenting each step of the process and monitoring the patch status supports a more organized and auditable approach for your team.

Inventory & Prioritisation

Begin with a complete inventory of all systems, devices, and software in your organization. When there are approximately 135,000 vulnerabilities to deal with each year, only 2% of vulnerabilities are so critical that they require immediate patching.

Utilizing vulnerability management tools to complete a scan for missing patches and identify risk can aid the prioritization process. Or scan for missing patches related to security vulnerabilities that could cause significant risk to your organization. Prioritizing a patch first will enable your team to focus on implementing the most critical patch first, which reduces surface area for attack.

Testing & Rollback Planning

Do not just deploy patches to systems and devices without first completing a specific and safe testing process. This approach should mean testing patches in a safe or controlled environment with potential to find hardware compatibility issues and unexpected bugs. This approach is safer for your business as it minimizes the potential to cause disruption to business operations because you are addressing known variables.

Additionally, have a rollback plan strictly for the cases where an issue may unexpectedly occur as a result of patching. Capture your testing process and results for your employees to learn from each implementation. In fact, testing and roll-back plans are essential to a solid patch management cycle.

Deployment & Verification

When the patches successfully underwent testing and are cleared for implementation, deliver the patches using patch management applications or automated process. During implementation, verify that the patches were correctly installed and the systems are operating normally.

Observe for any irregularities or issues and catalogue these results. It is important to continuously verify your implementations to demonstrate compliance to your organization and describe patches are functioning for the planned security functions and performance improvements.

Common Patching Challenges and How to Overcome Them

Many organizations encounter challenges in patch management due to legacy architecture, the number of servers and limited time and resources available to implement automated service. In fact, 76% of teams indicated that legacy architectures unable to be patched via automated process represents their biggest patch management problem.

To resolve some of the challenges, you should acquire updated patch management tools and applications, ensure you have funnelled your architecture down into segmented isolated implementations of disbursed architecture including outdated or legacy system implementation, and allocated normal times of operation to offer patches.

Additionally, increasing the training and knowledge-sharing to all employees in your organization, and providing documentation to create or establish the process will also assist reliable patching for your community of systems.

Best Practices for a Proactive Patching Program

You can help create a proactive patching program, not a reactive patching program, by employing the best-in-field practices and efforts. By employing automated patching solutions for your patch management solutions you can reduce the manual input into the patching process by up to 71% (Gartner, 2024).

Perform patch audits on a regular basis, document progress on patches and document patches for critical tier 1 service, to performed testing before you deploy patches. Maintain a library of patching documentation as a reference guide, review your patch management process regarding all patches and ultimately, build a positive patching community in your organization in the minds of your employees, and you won’t worry about security breaches and remaining compliant.

Ready to Eliminate Patch Gaps? Book a Free Strategy Review

Good patch management is not only security management, it is good business practice! This will protect your organization from threats, ensure you are compliant and keep your systems operational. By following the steps and implementation processes outlined above, you will build a proactive program whereby you vulnerable exposure risks is greatly reduced with respect to cyber security.

Don’t let patch gaps and missed patching create risk for your business. TVG Consulting can help you narrow in on the right patching management program for your organization. To start taking advantage of a robust patch management program, book a free strategy review today and start having stronger security and better peace of mind, plus compliance.

Ready to improve your patch management strategy? The TVG Consulting team can help you develop and implement a customized patch management strategy that suits your business. Contact us today for a free strategy review!