5. Effective Remediation is Essential

Research shows that a staggering 60% of breaches occur because of vulnerabilities that go unpatched—even when a fix is available¹. To reduce risk, truly effective remediation and mitigation strategies are as essential as vulnerability prioritization.

Effective remediation requires the execution of fixes in addition to continuous validation to ensure that the vulnerabilities have been properly addressed. Whether remediation is manual, partially automated, or fully automated, actions should be based on comprehensive underlying intelligence.

Once an effective vulnerability prioritization process has been implemented, security teams must have visibility into the efficacy of critical remediation actions. Without validation, there is an assumption that exposures have been addressed when, in reality, the risks still exist.

Organizations should:

Prioritize environmental vulnerabilities first
Without addressing security gaps in the environment, management of software vulnerabilities will always fall short. Assets missing vulnerability assessment or patch management are effectively invisible in your vulnerability management program. Prioritize the remediation of environmental vulnerabilities by deploying controls, missing agents, or implementing robust patch management processes. These foundational steps can significantly reduce the attack surface.

Employ mitigation strategies for un-remediated vulnerabilities
For vulnerabilities that cannot be immediately addressed, organizations should employ mitigation strategies. For instance, leveraging EDR capabilities, applying temporary controls, and segmenting affected systems can reduce risk exposure.

Continually monitor and re-evaluate
Establish a cycle of continuous monitoring and reassessment to ensure that new vulnerabilities and environmental changes are integrated into the prioritization process. As part of the remediation validation process, security teams should track metrics such as mean time to remediation (MTTR) to monitor performance against objectives. This proactive approach allows organizations to adapt quickly to emerging threats.

In conclusion, with comprehensive vulnerability prioritization and effective remediation strategies, organizations can significantly reduce their risk exposure.

1. Source: Sevco Security State of the Cybersecurity Attack Surface