Design and Implement a Vulnerability Management Program

Identify, prioritize and remediate the highest risk vulnerabilities.
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Major Business Pain Points

  • Scanners, industry alerts, and penetration tests are revealing more and more vulnerabilities, and it is unclear how to manage them.
  • Organizations are struggling to prioritize the vulnerabilities for remediation, as there are many factors to consider including the threat of the vulnerability and the potential remediation itself.
  • Further, companies are unaware of the risk implications that come from leaving vulnerabilities open, and even from some of the remediation options.
Design and Implement a Vulnerability Management Program-Pain Points

Recommendations

Key Points

  • Patches are often seen as the only answer to vulnerabilities, but these are not always the most suitable solution.
  • Vulnerability management does not equal patch management. It includes identifying and assessing the risk of the vulnerability, and then selecting a remediation option which goes beyond just patching alone.
  • There is more than one way to tackle the problem. Leverage your existing security controls to protect the organization.
Design and Implement a Vulnerability Management Program-Recommendations

Approach

  • Design and implement a vulnerability management program that identifies, prioritizes, and remediates vulnerabilities.

  • Follow the methodology to assign priorities to vulnerabilities by examining the intrinsic qualities of the vulnerability, as well as the sensitivity of the data and business criticality of the affected asset.

  • Understand what needs to be considered when implementing remediation options including patches, configuration changes, and/or defense-in-depth controls.

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Methodology and Tools

Executive Brief

Read the concise Executive Brief to find out why you should design and implement a vulnerability management program and review the methodology.

  • Design and Implement a Vulnerability Management Program – Executive Brief
  • Design and Implement a Vulnerability Management Program – Phases 1-4

1. Identify vulnerability sources

Begin the project by creating a vulnerability management team and determine how vulnerabilities will be identified through scanners, penetration tests, third-party sources, and incidents.

  • Design and Implement a Vulnerability Management Program – Phase 1: Identify Vulnerability Sources
  • Vulnerability Mitigation Process Template
  • Vulnerability Scanning Tool RFP Template
  • Penetration Test RFP Template

2. Triage vulnerabilities and assign urgencies

Determine how vulnerabilities will be triaged and evaluated based on intrinsic qualities and how they may compromise business functions and data sensitivity.

  • Design and Implement a Vulnerability Management Program – Phase 2: Triage Vulnerabilities and Assign Urgencies

3. Remediate vulnerabilities

Develop a process to remediate vulnerabilities, including the identification of the appropriate remediation option.

  • Design and Implement a Vulnerability Management Program – Phase 3: Remediate Vulnerabilities
  • Vulnerability Tracking Tool

4. Continually improve the vulnerability management process

Evolve the program continually by developing metrics and formalizing a policy.

  • Design and Implement a Vulnerability Management Program – Phase 4: Continually Improve the Vulnerability Management Process
  • Vulnerability Management Policy

All resources on this page are provided to Cyber Leadership Hub members under license from third parties including Info-Tech Research Group Inc, a global leader in providing IT research and advice.