Five Patch Management Best Practices for Success in 2024

Patch management is the process of updating software, firmware, drivers, and other aspects of an organization's devices to protect them against vulnerabilities and potential attacks. While it may not seem like the most glamorous thing to do, it's clear that patch management is a critical part of keeping your organization's technology safe from bad actors.

The only problem is, not all patches are the same. This was emphasized by Robert Brown, director of customer success at Syxsense. Some are strictly updates that introduce new features, drivers, or firmware. Other patches fix problems such as software crashes or security holes.

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With this in mind, there are a few key things your organization can do to get the most out of the patch management process. In this article, we delve into the essential patch management practices that your organization should adopt to ensure maximum security and stability.

What are some patch management best practices and techniques?

According to Brown, there are five key aspects that organizations should adapt to when it comes to patch management. We'll go deeper into each practice, but here's a quick summary of the Patch Management Best Practices:

1. Taking into account third-party patches and updates.
2. Automated patch deployment or patch automation.
3. Identify and cover all devices to be patched.
4. Test and deploy patches carefully.
5. Follow the “golden rules” of patch management, such as applying patches to test machines and organizing the deployment beforehand.

Following these five practices will ensure that your organization and your endpoints; is safe, productive and protected through the patch management process.

Let's discuss each of Syxsense Officer Brown's tips on patch management, as outlined below.

1. Don't neglect third-party patches

Too many companies tend to turn on Windows and Apple updates and think they are covered. However, they are missing many open source and third-party patches that can pose serious exposure.

“Third-party updates account for 75% to 80% of all vulnerabilities,” Brown said.

In addition to OS-wide updates or firmware patches, it's also wise to check for updates to your organization's most used third-party applications. This is especially important for services that host sensitive business resources, such as password managers or storage services.

2. Implement patch automation

Once organizations begin to deal with third-party vulnerabilities, the volume of patches can soon become overwhelming. Some try to manually deal with all the vendor patches that come their way, but this gets them bogged down as they must test each one, determine the best deployment sequence, and time patch delivery to avoid overwhelming the network.

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Cloud-based patch automation is the answer. The vendor is responsible for prioritization, testing, patch deployment, and verification of a successful patch.

Brown advised companies to first establish their exact needs and choose a set of patch management tools that fit their needs. By taking advantage of all the automation features available, security and IT staff will have time to continue with more strategic projects.

3. Identify all devices

One of the biggest problems when applying patches is making sure you cover all systems and devices. Cybercriminals only need an unpatched app or device to wreak havoc.

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Additionally, not all patch and vulnerability scanners are created equal. Some miss smartphones, others operate in a system-specific manner, and more than a few are weak when it comes to backup and storage applications.

4. Test and deploy carefully.

Brown also explained the best way to test and deploy patches: To start, multiple systems should be used to create an initial foundation for patch deployment. These devices are used to verify that the patch is installed correctly and that no problems arise.

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From there, deploy to a larger set of devices, which should include machines from different departments. You want to have one or two devices in IT, finance, marketing, and other departments, for example, so you can verify that there are no problems with any major business applications. If all that works, set a schedule to deliver the patch everywhere.

5. Follow the golden rules

Finally, Brown went over some additional rules of thumb for patching:

• Don't test a patch on your own machine: if it fails, you may be locked out of your device for hours and unable to stop the broader deployment of an unauthorized patch.
• Look for patch management systems that allow you to uninstall patches and roll back systems.
• Arrange the deployment so that it does not overwhelm the network or impact the user experience. Divide it according to logical groups or by department, region, location or device type.
• Make sure all new devices are added to the patch schedule.
• Document patching successes and failures. Know if any devices failed to be patched and you can dig deeper to find out why.

Understanding patch management 'classification systems'

Cybersecurity agencies and vendor rating systems rate patches based on their importance. He Common vulnerability scoring system, for example, gives a score from one to 10, with higher ratings being the most serious. Some patch management systems use CVSS scores, while others incorporate other metrics and evaluate a vulnerability based on the risk it poses to a specific business or application.

Critical updates They offer a significant benefit: improved security, greater privacy, or greater reliability. Updates that are considered important but uncritical will continue to improve the system; optional patches These are usually related to drivers or new software.

“Different providers rate things differently,” Brown said. “As one vendor may rate one patch as critical and another as non-critical, it is best to consider multiple factors.”

Syxsense provides a “Syxscore”, which is based on an organization's attack surface with vulnerabilities and the posture of the endpoints. Leverages severity assessments from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and vendors regarding the health status of endpoints in an environment.

“Syxscore is a personalized assessment of which devices are vulnerable and the importance of updates to the overall protection of your network, giving you the ability to target the endpoints that present the most serious levels of risk,” Brown said.