One of an IT team’s most critical tasks within their enterprise network is threat remediation. Defined by MITRE as the process by which organizations identify and resolve threats to their system, these activities defend companies from any infiltratration that could result in a breach of data, pause of operations or damage to any software or hardware. While the importance of vulnerability remediation is clear, the constant upkeep that is required to maintain procedures is oftentimes overwhelming for even the most experienced IT professionals.
A recent study conducted by the Enterprise Strategy Group found that 43% of respondents considered their biggest challenge to threat remediation to be prioritizing which vulnerabilities to address. Another concern was an inability to patch in a timely manner, as it is not uncommon for larger enterprises to have thousands of issues to resolve at any given time. Many of the companies surveyed also found that they were also incapable of tracking the cost and effectiveness of their current procedures.
Strong cybersecurity hygiene is an essential practice for risk mitigation, however the time-consuming nature of maintaining best practices across an increasingly complex inventory of remote IT assets can feel impossible. By employing technology-backed tools to automate many of these activities, organizations can identify vulnerabilities in their systems, prioritize by risk level and remediate with an efficient approach for today’s digital workforce.
Detection and Remediation
Adopting a proactive approach to threat management rather than a reactive mitigation stance will allow organizations to best secure their data.
According to Gartner, over 99% of the successful exploits have been found to stem from vulnerabilities that were present or known for at least a year. To best counter this risk, a layered security approach should be utilized, as it will best provide the comprehensive detection support organizations require across a network made up of both company-owned and personal devices.
Remediation solutions will allow for the automated scanning of any uncovered security vulnerabilities that stem from various sources, including both third-party apps and internal systems. With these remediation tools, organizations can better manage their IT costs while still staying alert.
Automated Patch Management
Patches, or updates to software released to address bugs or security vulnerabilities, are constantly being released. However, as a recent Okta study revealed, companies are utilizing almost 150 apps on average to support their daily business processes, making it nearly impossible for IT teams to manually monitor and execute patches across their entire digital inventory.
Conducting this critical task can be a strain on IT resources. Verizon’s Data Breach Report found that of all exploits they detected, most were related to vulnerabilities up to nine years old, which had long since been patched by developers. By failing to effectively address these updates, organizations leave themselves exposed to major data breaches and potential litigation by failing to stay compliant with privacy laws.
An automatic patch management tool not only will provide your team with alerts for new updates, but will also allow you to set a consistent schedule for pushing these patches across your entire network. This can even be done overnight, meaning that users can always expect to log onto fully configured workstations every day.
The Future of Remediation
Faronics Deep Freeze software can provide the line of cybersecurity defense your organization needs when it comes to vulnerability and threat remediation. Our lightning fast application management and Windows update deployment capabilities keep your network up-to-date, allowing your IT team to spend less time of their time on administrative tasks and to instead focus on more valuable projects.
In the event a threat does breach your network, your employees will be empowered to autonomously manage the issue almost immediately. By taking a snapchat of the computer’s desired configurations and settings as defined by your IT administrators, an instant reboot will instantly restore devices to their original state. This helps to counter time lost to the IT support ticket process, and means that your entire team can stay productive without pausing operations.
IT asset inventories are likely to only become more complex as organizations across the globe move towards a partial or completely remote workforce. With Faronics Deep Freeze aiding your team’s ability to quickly remediate threats and other vulnerabilities, you will be able to ensure that your team can log on and conduct business as usual from anywhere in the world.
To find out more, browse through our product pages or sign up for a free trial today.
