Why Every Organization Needs a Vulnerability Management Policy

The importance of information security in the modern business world cannot be overstated. It’s vital for organizations to take a proactive approach to their cybersecurity, including the development of a vulnerability management policy.

In this blog post, we will discuss why vulnerability management is critical for any organization looking to reduce risk when it comes to their modern technical infrastructure. Crafting a formalized vulnerability management policy helps break down internal silos, while keeping an entire enterprise aligned with the common goal of protecting digital assets, whether onsite, in the cloud, or at the home office.

The importance of vulnerability management to the modern business

As noted earlier, an organization’s overall approach to information security becomes more effective with a vulnerability management policy providing a sense of direction and accountability. Fostering alignment between IT and software engineering teams becomes easier with a policy aimed at keeping both the corporate technical infrastructure and internal applications safe. This is an essential approach regardless of whether an organization already follows the DevOps and/or DevSecOps methodologies.

A key benefit from a proactive approach to vulnerability management is the improved capability for monitoring and reacting to any security threats to a company’s software assets and technical infrastructure. Leveraging a vulnerability management tool, like Rapid7’s InsightVM, able to integrate with patch management software and other similar ITOps applications is a definite help in this regard. One result of this proactive approach is higher system uptime, which benefits customers and ultimately, the corporate bottom line.

Compliance is another critical reason companies must consider adopting a well-considered vulnerability management policy. While it’s an important component for any business sector, compliance becomes critical for those companies working in fields with a strong regulatory presence, such as finance or government. As such, any corporation with little focus on vulnerability management runs the risk of fines due to falling out of compliance in regards to their technical assets.

Of course, strong product innovation remains the lifeblood of the industry leaders in technology and other business sectors. Regular, proactive feature improvements in software applications play a key role in the success of those companies that thrive on an innovative culture. Seamlessly integrating software patches and enhancements is a must for these businesses, and a strong vulnerability management policy helps this integration happen in a secure fashion.

Smart organizations are proactive in adopting a vulnerability management policy

No matter the business sector, successful organizations are the ones that take a proactive approach in adopting a vulnerability management policy. Their technical infrastructures stay more secure, which helps them reduce risk in an environment filled with cybercriminals. Another benefit is providing innovative applications and services to their customer base without burning development cycles dealing with security issues.

Importantly, a documented vulnerability management policy goes beyond its operational benefits to also show regulatory agencies that the company takes their vulnerability management program seriously. In fact, many regulators first look for the existence of a policy as part of any auditing process. Once again, leveraging a state-of-the-art vulnerability management approach provides organizations with the means to meet the industry-specific standards for their business domain. While preventing costly fines is a notable benefit, fostering a company culture proactively focused on compliance is another definite plus.  

Additionally, following a clearly defined vulnerability management policy holds the different technology teams at a company responsible for internal compliance. As noted earlier, this is especially the case with organizations yet to align their teams by following the DevOps or DevSecOps methodology. Such policies can also help define the specific roles and responsibilities for each team, helping to provide a sense of direction for preventing any vulnerabilities from adversely impacting business operations.

In the end, enterprising companies are proactive about reducing risk with their software assets and technical infrastructure. They understand the importance of vulnerability management and make the effort to craft a sharply defined policy to provide a sense of direction to their staff when it comes to compliance. Of course, leveraging a best-of-breed vulnerability management software tool also matters when successfully implementing any policy.

How InsightVM ensures a successful vulnerability management policy

Implementing a vulnerability management policy becomes easier with InsightVM, Rapid7’s industry-leading vulnerability risk management solution. InsightVM gives you visibility into not only the risk in your local, remote, cloud, containerized, and virtual infrastructure, but also which vulnerabilities are most likely to be exploited in the wild and how that risk translates to business impact. With this deeper understanding of risk, you can remediate more effectively and track and report on the progress most impactful to your organization.

InsightVM also serves as the source of intelligence for the entire corporate technical infrastructure, ensuring security, availability, and superior performance.  As a result, your company maintains a healthy bottom line. Connect with Rapid7 to see how InsightVM can make a difference for you.