๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐น๐ฑ โ Real-World Findings from Security Assessments
๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฏ.๐ฏ%ย of environments I assessed ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ช๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ด๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐
This one is honestly shocking. I still encounter systems that havenโt been patched ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ต๐ โ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐.
And yes, I know what many administrators think:
โ๐๐๐๐ง๐ค๐จ๐ค๐๐ฉ ๐ช๐ฅ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐จ ๐จ๐ค๐ข๐๐ฉ๐๐ข๐๐จ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐จ, ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฎ ๐๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฅ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐ก๐.โ
That concern is understandable. โ ๏ธ But avoiding patching entirely is ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ธ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฟย than implementing a proper patching process.
A mature approach ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฒ๐๐ปโ๐ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป๐๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐ง๐๐ฒ๐๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐. It means:
๐น Monitoring early feedback and known issues
๐น Testing patches in a lab or pilot group
๐น Rolling updates to production in phases/waves
๐น Gradually including critical systems once stability is confirmed
๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ธ:
unpatched vulnerabilities ๐ potential update issues.
In many environments I assess, the real problem isnโt technology โ itโs the ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐. With tools like WSUS, Windows Update for Business, or MECM, implementing structured patch management is not that complicated.
๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น๐น๐, after Patch Tuesday I closely follow community reports, test updates in a demo environment, and then roll them out gradually across environments. This approach ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ป๐ป๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ while keeping systems secure.
If you prefer having this research and early ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐, thatโs exactly what ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ผ๐ป ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ โ but many of you already know that. You can subscribe here:
๐ https://horizon-secured.com/newsletter/
How mature is your patching process today?
