Patch Management Protects Organizations’ IT Security

According to security management company Lumension Inc., which released a report "The Lumension's Annual Report" on February 17, 2009, web-based malicious software are expected to grow continuously.

Already this year (2009), the security industry has observed attacks using malicious software on social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter. As web-borne attacks continue to rise, Lumension recalls the past and alerts that the attacks would further rise during 2009 unless organizations are diligent and proactive enough to handle their patching processes.

Moreover, botnets will continue to evolve in their methods to beat the current widely used defenses. In light of that, Paul Henry, Security and Forensics Analyst, Lumension, says that the true challenge for 2009 does not relate to the botnet menace as it does to how organizations handle this menace, as reported by SCMAGAZINE on February 18, 2009.

Mr. Henry further stated that botnets were simply an issue of patch management. If the systems had the most up-to-date software patches, they would be free from being compromised at the very outset. Therefore, unless the underlying issue of patch management was adequately addressed, botnets would keep on exploding, he added.

According to the report, the exposure of 5.9 Million records in 2008 could have been averted if appropriate security patches had been deployed at the proper time.

Furthermore, the USB sticks, which are proving to be an increasingly favorable medium for carrying data from one place to another, are extremely vulnerable to malicious content and thus, it raises security concerns. In this context, Lumension's study suggests that 90% of IT security experts believe that the use of portable devices is likely to increase security threats for their organizations during 2009.

Meanwhile, Pat Clawson, Chairman and Chief Executive Official, Lumension, said that although the economic downturn was affecting everyone, the amount of fresh and even more energized malicious online attacks devised daily is a major reason for worry for organizations in 2009, as reported by SCMAGAZINE on February 18, 2009.

Eventually, it is the security of a company that counts most in the modern age of Internet, said security experts.

Related article: Patch Issued To Fix WMF Flaw In OpenOffice.org

» SPAMfighter News - 3/6/2009