Server Patching Best Practices for Enterprise Patch Management
ParkView Managed Services
Malicious cyberattacks continue to make headlines. It seems like there is a massive new breach every month or so. The truth is that cyberattacks can happen to any business at any time. And although there a very few universal truths when it comes to information technology, one of the best ways to reduce your risk is through timely server patching and firmware updates.
Enterprise patch management is not particularly glamorous. It doesn’t get the same attention that anti-malware and DevSecOps Tool Chains do, but it’s even more important. 给十大赌博正规老平台器打补丁可以确保您能够在恶意行为者利用潜在漏洞之前消除它们.
Jump-to Section
Why Patch Management Is Important
Patch Management vs. Change Management
Best Practices for Server Patching
4. Create a Patch Management Policy
Of course, patch management is not a simple thing. You’ll need the right strategy and program in place, and you must ensure that you’re adapting best practices to your business needs. We’ve developed a list of the most critical steps for patching cycles, as well as a rundown of the benefits of patch management for your servers.
What Is Patching?
Let’s start with an overarching definition. Patching is the act of applying a change to installed software – such as firmware, operating systems, 或者应用程序——纠正安全或功能问题，并在某些情况下增加新功能.
Now consider this: when the operating systems (OS) of your servers, network, and storage are developed, programmers write code to achieve functionalities. In some instances, that code can be exploited by human attackers and malicious software.
原始设备制造商(oem)和软件供应商定期推出这些操作系统问题的更新，以防止不法分子利用这些问题. These updates are called “patches.” So, patching is nothing more than applying the updates delivered from the software authors.
这有点过于简单化，因为打补丁是一个复杂的过程，适用于您组织中的所有网络连接设备(任何带有IP地址的设备都应考虑在内)。. 您的组织使用的每个应用程序也需要补丁和更新，以防止漏洞利用. 在尽量减少停机时间的同时编排这些补丁的安装是至关重要的，但也是非常具有挑战性的.
Why Patch Management Is Important
Why is enterprise patch management so important? First, patching can improve server, network, storage, and application performance. 它还可以增加功能——一些更新提供新功能或扩展现有功能.
However, 养成良好的补丁管理习惯的最重要原因是减少安全漏洞. According to recent vulnerability response research, 在遭遇数据泄露的公司中，多达60%的公司意识到没有实施安全相关补丁.
Patch Management vs. Change Management
Patch management is the technical process of managing and implementing software updates for servers, network, storage, and applications. Change management, on the other hand, is the business process used to plan, approve, communicate, test, and orchestrate the implementation of those patches. They work together to ensure that patches are applied correctly, promptly, and without a detrimental effect on the organization, such as unexpected downtime.
7 Best Practices for Server Patching
While patching is critically important, it’s just as important that you do so correctly. 补丁管理行业标准可帮助您在供应商提供补丁后尽快解决安全漏洞. Below, we’ve outlined the most important patch management best practices as recommended by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
1. Take Inventory
The first step is to take inventory. 您应该了解组织中需要随时更新的设备和应用程序的数量, but this type of patch management audit goes even deeper. 探索这些资产之间的依赖关系非常重要，这样您就可以预测由于It补丁流程无效而导致特定设备或应用程序不可用时会发生什么.
2. Assess Risk
Next, assess the risk for each component you identified. For instance, is a server at greater risk than a particular app used on just a few workstations? Some of the things you’ll want to consider during this stage include:
- How easily a vulnerability can be exploited.
- The duration of time in which a system has been left unpatched.
- If the system accesses the Internet.
- The results of vulnerability scans.
By assessing the risk level for each component and system identified during your inventory, you can create an accurate schedule.
3. Establish a Schedule
How often should you perform patch management? 使用您在前面步骤中学到的知识来建立更新系统和组件的时间表. What should that schedule look like?
Recommended Patch Schedule
The recommended patching schedule should look something like this:
- Once per month, update desktop operating systems, malware and antivirus software, security tooling, VPN clients, and client applications.
- Once per month, update server operating systems and applications.
- Every quarter, update physical and virtual appliances, management tooling, and hypervisors.
- Every six months, update your infrastructure firmware, drivers, and management software.
4. Create a Patch Management Policy
In addition to implementing an informed patch schedule, it’s also important that your organization adheres to patch management policy best practices. This policy should spell out when systems and components should be scanned, how patches are applied, how to determine priority in specific situations, and more.
NIST Patch Management Policy
国家网络安全卓越中心(NCCoE)最近发布了两份关于企业补丁管理政策和标准的新最终出版物.
NIST Special Publication (SP) 800-40 Revision 4, Guide to Enterprise Patch Management Planning: Preventive Maintenance for Technology recommends that leadership at all levels of an organization, along with business/mission owners and security/technology management teams, 是否应该共同创建一个企业战略，以简化和操作补丁，同时提高其风险的降低.
NIST SP 1800-31, 改进一般IT系统的企业补丁:以更好的方式利用现有工具和执行流程, 演示了如何使用工具来实现SP 800-40 Revision 4中描述的补丁功能. 它还展示了组织如何在常规和紧急修补情况下使用商业工具, as well as implementing temporary alternatives to patching.
这两份文件都反映了及时的补丁管理策略和政策对于努力保持强大的网络安全态势的组织的重要性.
5. Track Patch Availability
如果您不确定这些补丁何时发布，则不可能使您的十大赌博正规老平台器与最新的补丁保持同步. Patch availability tracking ensures that you know what patches are being released and when. 然后应该创建一个时间表，以确保尽可能快地安装高优先级补丁，同时为低优先级补丁创建一个总体计划.
Remember that every vendor will have a different patch/update release schedule. Most of them publish this information to their websites, but some may also communicate their update schedule in less typical ways.
跟踪补丁可用性将要求您有一个适当的流程来监控供应商通信，以便您可以随时了解何时提供更新和补丁.
6. Centralize Patch Management
集中式补丁管理是一种解决方案，旨在帮助限制在整个组织中实现补丁所需的时间和精力. This is a software-based approach that eliminates the need to manually apply patches; it works across multiple operating systems and can even work in the cloud.
7. Automate Patch Management
Automated patch management is the next step up from centralized patch management. Like centralized solutions, automated solutions rely on advanced software to eliminate manual updates. However, in this situation, you allow the software to handle all aspects of patching and updating. 这可以确保您的系统始终是最新的，并且能够快速地减少安全漏洞.
Choosing the Right Patch Management Partner
很明显，成功的补丁管理对于发现和解决安全漏洞以及提高软件性能是不可或缺的. But despite widespread recognition that patching is effective, and attackers regularly exploit unpatched software, many organizations do not have the resources to keep up with regular patching. The good news? You don’t have to be responsible for your organization’s patch management any longer.
IT infrastructure managed services 通过简化计算环境的管理，简化IT操作，并为您提供事件管理, patch management, and remediation. Our 7×24 Enterprise Operations Center (EOC) engineers, combined with our robust monitoring tools, 将继续监视您的十大赌博正规老平台器并执行定期补丁，以释放完整的团队成员，使其专注于创新而不是维护的更重要的项目. OS Patching specifically is currently available under our Plus (Defined Remediation) and Full (Enterprise Management) ParkView™ support tiers.
Looking to take patch management off your IT team’s to-do list? Contact Park Place Technologies today to get a quote and learn more about what our server management and monitoring services with OS Patching can do for your organization!