The importance of endpoint management

PCs, laptops and servers need to be kept up to date with security patches. Security vulnerabilities are found every day by ethical hackers, public black hat hackers and pentesters. These can lead to an exploit which could result in a loss of data, a gain of unauthorized access or a denial of service scenario.

Security patches needed to secure PCs from these potential disasters should be applied as quickly as possible, but is very often not done due to lack of time and money. Security patches that are generally seen as most critical are those that apply to Internet Explorer, Adobe Acrobat Reader and Adobe Flash Player plugin/active X controls and windows.

Security patch management needs to include updates from major third party vendors such as Cisco for routers used on the network. Firmware updates on Hardware and servers are also an important part of Security patch management.

Patches for endpoint security, such as anti-virus and personal firewalls are crucial. Security patches are continually being updated so the firewall on the endpoint needs to be updated frequently. Security patches should be tested before they are deployed in production either by QA or a pilot group if resources are available.

Security Patch management is one of the most key parts of any Security strategy since it reduces risk exposure while minimizing impact on users, time consuming tasks and budgets.