You are here

Home

Cyber Resilience – Steps for Successful Vulnerability Management

Cyber Resilience – Steps for Successful Vulnerability Management

Created: Tuesday, December 10, 2024 - 14:17
Categories:
Cybersecurity, OT-ICS Security, Security Preparedness

Vulnerability management is a critical process for reducing potential risks associated with security vulnerabilities for organizations of all sizes. Organizations that lack proper vulnerability management are significantly more likely to experience a breach. According to Verizon’s 2023 Data Breach Investigations Report, 60% of breaches involved vulnerabilities for which a patch was available but not applied. Proper patch management can reduce the chances of your utility experiencing a breach by more than half.  

From WaterISAC’s 12 Cybersecurity Fundamentals for Water and Wastewater Utilities, Fundamental 9 “Embrace Risk-Based Vulnerability Management” provides utilities an invaluable resource to accomplish proper vulnerability management. In addition, WaterISAC routinely shares the latest high-risk vulnerabilities from CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerability (KEV) Catalog as well as CISA’s latest ICS advisories, shared in each Security and Resilience Update (SRU). See the latest one shared today, Tuesday, December 10.

Regardless of your environment, whether OT or IT, vulnerability management is crucial. If you take away nothing else, remember this:

  • Update or patch as you are able
  • If you can’t patch, compensate with other controls
  • When neither is possible, isolate impacted systems

Rather than simply addressing vulnerabilities as discrete issues, proper vulnerability management requires a comprehensive approach to assess and manage your overall security posture. This process not only involves identifying and prioritizing assets, but also requires coordinated communication and strategies to effectively minimize risks and protect valuable resources. See an overview of the main steps involved in proper vulnerability management below. For more information, visit Tripwire.

The main steps of vulnerability management include:

Prepare:

  • Identify key assets and their importance.
  • Develop a strategic plan for evaluating weaknesses.
  • Ensure collaboration among IT, security professionals, and executive leadership.

Identify:

  • Conduct asset discovery to create an inventory of protected assets.
  • Prioritize assets based on critical uptime requirements and data value.
  • Assess vulnerability exposure points across networks, servers, and endpoints.

Analyze/Assess:

  • Evaluate current and needed security controls for each asset.
  • Conduct vulnerability scans to prioritize risks and recommend actions.
  • Use thorough analysis to obtain a complete view of the security posture.

Communicate:

  • Share assessment results and recommendations with relevant stakeholders.
  • Balance remediation efforts with strategic business goals.
  • Develop a communication framework for ongoing risk posture updates.

Treat:

  • Implement processes to remediate identified weaknesses continuously.
  • Establish patching policies and change control practices.
  • Regularly reassess and refine security measures to ensure effectiveness.