What is patch management and what is the importance of patch management to information systems?
Patch management is a process concerned with identifying, approving, testing and deploying system patches that are required to address security vulnerabilities. It enables organizations to apply and enforce available patches. And it ensures that systems are kept up-to-date with current releases of patches. Besides, organizations can employ vulnerability management to look for vulnerabilities in enterprise systems.
Organizations with effective patch management programs will be able to evaluate, test, approve and install patches in a timely manner. However, if an organization fails to establish robust patch management system in place, it will experience frequent system outages and security incidents from known vulnerabilities that cloud have been prevented easily.
Benefits of patch management endeavors include the following:
- Protect organizations from security threats proactively
- Minimize systems downtime by addressing security vulnerabilities
- Increase productivity
- Meet compliance and regulatory requirements
- Fix bugs
- Incorporate new system features
- More