Syxsense and Cybersecurity Insiders released new research exploring the “2023 State of Vulnerability Management.” The research reflects the latest trends, key challenges, and solution preferences for vulnerability management across a range of technical executives, managers, and IT security practitioners from organizations of varying sizes and industries.
The research shows that managing cybersecurity vulnerabilities remains a significant challenge for most organizations. In fact, 78% of respondents report experiencing an increase in vulnerability volume over the past 12 months with almost a quarter experiencing a breach due to unaddressed vulnerabilities. Making matters worse, only half of respondents (51%) reported having a moderate level of visibility into vulnerabilities in their environments. Of that number, 26% have detected more than 100 new vulnerabilities every month.
Additionally, while continuous vulnerability scanning is employed by 35% of respondents, there remains a considerable lag in patch deployment as only 11% deploy patches the same day they become available, and 47% take more than a week. Furthermore, only 65% of organizations prioritize vulnerabilities based on risk. This lag in vulnerability management presents a huge window of risk for organizations (and opportunities for attackers) and suggests a need for more efficient vulnerability management strategies.
“Vulnerability management continues to be difficult for many organizations, especially when rapid technological advancement and ever-increasing attack surfaces outpace the ability to preempt emerging threats,” said Ashley Leonard, Founder and CEO at Syxsense. “Sadly, with only 19% of organizations having achieved a high-level maturity in their vulnerability management program, there is substantial room for industry-wide improvements. Today, too many vulnerabilities go undetected – or if detected, unpatched or not remediated in a timely manner – as organizations still grapple with limited resources or expertise to shore up their vulnerability management strategy.”
Other notable research findings include:
- Vulnerabilities on the rise – The majority of respondents are experiencing an increase in vulnerabilities over the last 12 months, with 38% seeing an increase of up to 25%, 25% seeing an increase of 26%-50%, and nearly 15% seeing an increase of 51% or more.
- Barriers to improvement – Budget constraints (56%) and skills shortages (46%) were leading challenges for organizations when it comes to improving vulnerability management.
- Solution priorities – Organizations are most interested in refining the accuracy of vulnerability detection (79%). Reporting and analytics (63%) and the cost of ownership (61%) were also top priorities.
To download the entire “2023 State of Vulnerability Management” please visit this link: 2023 State of Vulnerability Management: Key Insights & Strategies
