Vulnerabilities exist in most assets in an infrastructure. Leaving vulnerabilities unaddressed is an invitation for cyber threats. Addressing vulnerabilities in a timely manner helps to reduce the attack surface in the infrastructure and minimize cybersecurity risk for an organization.
Effective vulnerability management requires a proper plan and successful execution of all the steps involved. Below are the steps required for effective vulnerability management.

- Discover – Asset Discovery and Asset classification.
As the saying goes “You cannot protect what you can’t see”. Identify and map every asset across your company infrastructure and do this on a regular basis as infrastructure changes occur. Classify assets based on their function and importance.
- Assess – Active or Passive Vulnerability Scanning
Through active or passive vulnerability scanning, evaluate the vulnerabilities in all of your assets, including software or hardware vulnerabilities, misconfiguration, and other security health indicators.
- Analyze – Analysis and Prioritization of vulnerabilities
Analyze the vulnerabilities based on business impact and prioritize the vulnerabilities that are most impactful to your business
- Mitigate – Patching of vulnerabilities
Address the vulnerabilities in the order of priority and apply patches where practical. Where patching is not practical, apply to compensate security controls.
- Measure – Tracking the progress of vulnerability management program
Measure and track your progress on a regular interval to understand the effectiveness of your vulnerability management program. This will help in making better business decisions and technology investments.