Cyberattacks are increasing as the number of vulnerabilities detected in software increased by more than 50% over the past 5 years. This is the result of unpatched and misconfigured systems like 75% of organizations believe they are vulnerable to a cyberattack due to unpatched software.

Keeping up with the constant influx of new threats can be a daunting task, compounded by the ever-changing security landscape that adds to the workload of security teams.

As vulnerabilities continue to increase and security evolves, it is becoming increasingly clear that conventional vulnerability management programs are inadequate to manage the expanding attack surface.

As a result, many security teams are striving to adopt modern vulnerability management programs that can identify and thwart contemporary vulnerability-based threats.

These risk-based vulnerability management platforms are much better equipped to help organizations prioritize imminent threats to mitigate and ensure comprehensive security, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

Before we dive into that, let’s first look at traditional vulnerability management programs, modern programs risk-based alternativesand the main differences between each.

Traditional vulnerability management

Vulnerability management is a structured, recurring process that involves the discovery and resolution of vulnerabilities. This process includes several steps, such as analysis, detection, evaluation, and remediation.

Once vulnerabilities are identified, security teams quickly remediate. However, traditional vulnerability management relies heavily on CVSS scores, which are not always reliable and can cause security teams to prioritize their efforts incorrectly, wasting time on low-risk vulnerabilities.

The main problem with this conventional approach to vulnerability management is the lack of comprehensive information about the potential risks posed by each vulnerability. Such practices do not provide an adequate threat context, resulting in the inability to accurately identify the most significant risks facing an organization.

This leads to manual triaging of all vulnerabilities and a lack of quantifiable data on their potential business impact.

Importantly, when security teams don’t have enough context, they are likely to randomly patch vulnerabilities, which can lead to dangerous and high-risk vulnerabilities.

Risk-Based Vulnerability Management

Compared to traditional and outdated approaches to vulnerability management, a risk-based strategy allows organizations to assess the level of risk posed by vulnerabilities.

This approach allows teams to prioritize vulnerabilities based on their assessed risk levels and remediate those that pose higher risks, minimizing potential attacks in a simple, continuous, and automated way.

Over 90% of successful cyberattacks involve the exploitation unpatched vulnerabilities and therefore the demand for automated patch management solutions is increasing as organizations seek a smarter and more efficient vulnerability remediation strategy than those employed in the past.

Outscan NX: Modern Vulnerability Management for an Evolving Threatscape

In the face of today’s threats, it is essential to have actionable risk-based information that can advance security remediation efforts. By continuously evaluating your entire attack surface, Outscan NX can identify the most pressing threats, saving your security team valuable time and resources.

Outscan NX is a comprehensive suite of internal and external network and cloud security scanning tools customized to meet your organization’s unique needs. The innovative vulnerability management solution:

• Has a scan-free scan feature to diagnose network and cloud security issues. This takes a blueprint from your last scan and continuously checks it against new discoveries. This means that even if you haven’t run a scan for a few days, you will still be alerted.
• Uses risk scoring, enabling faster and more targeted remediation efforts.
• Risk-based insights and specialized security tools to strengthen your company’s security measures and protect against potential threats.

By improving your vulnerability risk management process, you’ll be able to proactively address potential issues before they escalate. This approach allows your organization to stay ahead of potential risks and maintain a proactive attitude in managing vulnerabilities and cloud security.

With the integration of automated threat intelligence risk monitoring, you’ll be able to identify significant risks before they become exploitable. This will reduce your exposure time and allow you to make smarter, smarter and more informed decisions based on reliable and up-to-date information.

Eliminate cyber risks, leverage real-time actionable insights, and benefit from around-the-clock automated risk-based vulnerability management today with Outscan NX.

Talk to the Outscan NX Experts to learn how to upgrade your vulnerability management today.

Sponsored and written by Outpost24