What are the best practices for prioritizing and scheduling patches?

1 Assess the risks

Before you apply any patch, you need to understand the risks involved. This means evaluating the severity and impact of the vulnerability that the patch addresses, as well as the potential consequences of not applying it. You can use various sources of information, such as CVE databases, vendor advisories, threat intelligence feeds, and internal security assessments, to determine the risk level of each patch. You should also consider the criticality and exposure of the affected systems, and the compatibility and reliability of the patch itself.

2 Categorize and prioritize

Once you have assessed the risks, you can categorize and prioritize the patches according to their urgency and importance. A common approach is to use a four-tier system, such as Critical, Important, Moderate, and Optional. Critical patches fix high-risk vulnerabilities that could lead to severe data breaches, system compromises, or service disruptions and should be applied as soon as possible. Important patches fix moderate-risk vulnerabilities that could affect the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of your data or systems and should be applied within a week of release. Moderate patches fix low-risk vulnerabilities that are unlikely to be exploited and should be applied within a month of release. Optional patches fix negligible-risk vulnerabilities or provide enhancements or features that are not essential for your operations and can be applied at your discretion.

3 Plan and test

Before you roll out any patch, you need to plan and test it carefully. This means identifying the systems and users that will be affected by the patch, and communicating with them about the expected downtime, changes, and benefits. You also need to create a backup and a rollback plan, in case the patch causes any problems or conflicts. Additionally, you need to test the patch in a staging or sandbox environment, to verify its functionality, compatibility, and performance. You should document the results of your testing, and report any issues or feedback to the vendor or developer.

4 Deploy and monitor

The final step is to deploy and monitor the patch in your production environment. You should follow a standard operating procedure, and use a patch management tool or system, to automate and streamline the process. You should also monitor the patch deployment, and track its status, progress, and outcomes. You should verify that the patch has been installed correctly, and that it has resolved the vulnerability and improved the security or performance of your system. You should also check for any errors, anomalies, or incidents that might indicate a problem with the patch, and respond accordingly.

5 Review and improve

Patching is not a one-time activity, but a continuous cycle of improvement. You should review and improve your patching process regularly, to ensure that it meets your security and operational needs. You can use various metrics and KPIs, such as patch coverage, patch compliance, patch latency, patch success rate, and patch impact, to measure and evaluate your patching performance. You can also collect and analyze feedback from your stakeholders, vendors, and users, to identify and address any gaps or issues. By following these best practices, you can prioritize and schedule patches effectively, and reduce your threat and vulnerability exposure.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?