6 Patch Management Best Practices for Stronger IT Security

In brief:

• Unpatched systems are a top attack vector. Nearly 60% of breaches could have been prevented with timely updates.
• Patch management is complex, but essential. From patch fatigue to zero-day exploits, IT teams face real vulnerability management obstacles – but patch management best practices can significantly reduce risk.
• Patching best practices boost more than security. Effective patching reduces downtime, improves system performance, and helps maintain compliance with industry regulations.

Leaving business systems unpatched is like rolling out a welcome mat for cybercriminals looking to steal data or disrupt operations. But patching systems isn’t as simple as clicking an install button – and as the complexity and risk grow, implementing patch management best practices as a part of your vulnerability management program is vital to keeping your business safe from cyberthreats.

Nearly 60% of cyberattack victims said installing an available patch would have prevented their breach (Ponemon Institute/ServiceNow’s latest Costs and Consequences of Gaps in Vulnerability Report). Even worse, 34% said they knew about the vulnerability before the attack but never fixed it.   

The massive Equifax data breach, which exposed the personal information of 143 million Americans and reportedly cost the company more than $1.3 billion, stands as a powerful warning. Cybercriminals exploited a known Apache Struts vulnerability that had gone unpatched for two months – highlighting the critical importance of timely security patching. 

The average cost of a data breach in the U.S.: $9.36 million – the highest of any country, according to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report 2024.

Why is security patching a problem?

Patch management is an organization’s process for applying software updates, often required to correct errors (aka fix bugs) or address security holes in a system. Patches are regularly released for operating systems, applications, and embedded systems like network equipment. 

Since patches identify the vulnerability they’re meant to fix, installing them quickly is essential. Hackers can exploit a given weakness within hours of a patch’s release. Exploitation of vulnerabilities now accounts for the initial access step in a fifth of all data breaches, Verizon’s 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report found. 

However, while software patches are mostly available within a reasonable timeframe, busy IT security teams often suffer “patch fatigue” – lacking the time or expertise to keep up with complex patching schedules, post-patching Quality Assurance (QA) procedures, and zero-day vulnerabilities that must be immediately addressed.

Zero-day attacks exploit software vulnerabilities before a fix is available – and implementing patches as soon as they are released is vital so your organization doesn’t remain defenseless against a well-publicized threat. 

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A clear and effective patch management strategy is critical to overcoming these challenges while minimizing business disruption. A 2024 engineering-cost analysis by Patched Codes calculates that fixing software vulnerabilities consumes about 17,700 developer hours and roughly $708,000 in labor each year for a 100-developer team – and exploit creation times keep shrinking in parallel. 

Some IT security teams are also wary of patches, which can involve complex coding vendors are pressured to write and distribute quickly. With a wealth of equipment to manage and delays in deployment testing patches, it takes an average of 35 days to apply patches to web application flaws and 60+ to patch internet-facing host/cloud vulnerabilities – leaving organizations vulnerable to cyberattacks. 

Implementing patch management best practices improves more than just security and vulnerability management. It can optimize business-critical functions as well, leading to performance improvements like fewer application crashes and downtime. It helps organizations keep pace with the latest software updates, features, and capabilities that improve end-user experience. 

And, as cyberthreats explode, it helps enterprises avoid legal and financial ramifications for failing to stay compliant with stringent patching best practices required by regulatory bodies.

Patch management best practices every organization should know

Here are six patch management best practices that should be a part of every IT security strategy:

1. Define and document a patch management policy

Too many organizations choose patch management tools and procedures without taking the time to understand their requirements or the functionalities and controls of their environment. Unfortunately, that often leaves them stuck with a vulnerability management solution that doesn’t fully fit their needs. 

Collaborating with stakeholders to develop a patch management policy helps your organization clearly identify vulnerabilities and prioritize what needs to be patched, when, and under what conditions. An effective patching process should also establish testing routines, procedures, and timeframes to minimize business disruption. 

A strong patching policy should define: 

• Scope – What technologies and teams are involved? 
• Cadence – How often does each technology require patching? 
• Maintenance – What maintenance windows can be predefined? 
• Priorities – Consider security, updates, new features, and critical patches. 
• Pre- and post-patching activities – That may include pre-patching communication and approval procedures, as well as post-patching testing, communication, and QA controls. 
• Zero-day timelines – What are high-priority vulnerabilities?

2. Know your infrastructure

Once you have a clear view of your requirements, you can start translating them into procedures. Implementing patch management best practices requires an in-depth understanding of your infrastructure, considering:

• What infrastructure components are most critical to the organization?
  Every IT environment is unique – and a bad patch can trigger problems or even “break” machines with certain configurations. To avoid disruptions, longer timelines with extensive testing can be wise for patching critical devices.
• What components are most vulnerable?
  While all systems need regular vulnerability management updates, defining patch frequency based on risk is essential. For instance, an intranet server that isn’t accessible from the internet isn’t as high a priority as a highly critical perimetral network device. The more exposed to attack a device is, the faster it requires patching.
• Are there devices that can no longer be supported or will be out of support soon?
  No antivirus or firewall can protect you from a core-level vulnerability in an operating system (OS) that can no longer be patched. As part of a sucessful patch management strategy, devices with unsupported OS or application servers accessible from the internet should be replaced promptly with newer technology. Prioritization is based on business impact and vulnerability to attack.
• Will some devices, like devices running legacy or homegrown applications, be excluded from the patching process?
  Patch management best practices include isolating unsupported devices from internet access, when possible.

Answering these questions helps you define patching groups based on technologies, criticality, vulnerability, and business needs. For instance, if test environments aren’t available to test patches on critical servers, you can build resiliency by scheduling patches for less-critical servers first or patching servers with similar functionality on separate schedules.

3. Plan patch schedules and maintenance windows

Streamlining patch deployment requires time, effort, and testing – but waiting too long to apply them puts your business at risk. Optimizing your patch frequency to minimize the gap between when a patch is published and when it’s applied will make your IT environment more secure and stable.  

Predefining maintenance windows is key to ensuring patches are applied promptly. While the frequency that patches become available varies among products and technologies, you should at least plan for monthly updates. 

It is also good practice to predefine daily or weekly patching windows that can accommodate emergency fixes, such as deployments to correct zero-day vulnerabilities. 

Every software vendor favors a particular channel for communicating patch information. Be sure to create a patch management process that includes monitoring their announcements so nothing falls through the cracks. 

Here is the patch frequency for some key technology: 

• Windows patch management: A list of available updates is published on the second Tuesday of each month.
• Linux patch management: While there is not a set schedule for releases, it is good practice to patch these products monthly.
• Network infrastructure: Most devices do not regulate patch releases, but it’s good practice to implement a patch deployment schedule quarterly.

4. Manage risk

For 93% of enterprises, the cost of hourly downtime now tops $300,000 — translating to at least $5,000 every minute (2024 ITIC Hourly Cost of Downtime Survey). So, while the patching process is vital to maintaining a healthy environment, a strong patch management strategy is essential to effective risk management and high system availability. 

Here are key steps you can take to reduce patching risk:

• Create a test environment
  A lab environment that replicates your real-world production environment allows you to safely test patches, avoiding surprise problems.
• If you can’t, split your infrastructure
  While test environments offer the best solution for minimizing risk, they are also pricey. If you don’t have the budget, you can minimize complications by patching servers or devices with the same roles on different dates. For instance, if you have multiple domain controllers, scheduling updates a week apart prevents a problematic patch from shutting down your entire operation.
• Establish post-patching controls
  Patch management best practices include processes that ensure all services are running smoothly before patches are rolled out to your production environment or critical servers. Always exclude patches that cause issues from the next patching group and report problems to the vendor.
• Build a strong contingency plan
  Even with proper steps to reduce patching risk, unexpected scenarios can still occur that cause systems to go down. Preparing for these outcomes ensures the quickest response and minimizes business impact. That includes:
  
  Notifying teams about services and/or devices affected by the update.
  
  Assessing business impact and urgency to determine prioritization.
  
  Identifying the problematic patch.
  
  Engaging the vendor or support groups to determine if a solution already exists.

5. Automate patch deployment

Automation improves the speed, accuracy, and effectiveness of your patch management process – eliminating the trouble of manually analyzing, preparing, testing, and deploying software patches individually.

Automated patch management tools help you get ahead of potential vulnerabilities by automatically scanning for missing patches and delivering appropriate fixes to relevant devices. Leveraging automated software is a key part of the patching process, enabling the creation of in-depth reports that provide visibility into the status of your infrastructure and demonstrate patch compliance to auditors and internal stakeholders.

Clearly defined patch management policies and procedures can help you determine the best automation tool for your needs.

6. Scan systems regularly for vulnerabilities

With cyberattacks coming from any direction, vulnerability scanning has become basic security hygiene. But 37% of breach victims said they never scan their networks and systems to see what they need to patch, the Ponemon study reports.

This aspect of the vulnerability management lifecycle is essential for protecting your systems. Recurrent scanning identifies points of weakness in your infrastructure, ensuring nothing is missed. As part of a strong patch management program, it helps you reduce the attack surface hackers can exploit and focus security efforts on areas with the highest risk.

Why Auxis: Avoid security gaps that put your business at risk

Implementing patch management best practices delivers peace of mind that patches will be applied quickly and efficiently to business software. But 74% of companies said they lack the resources to patch fast enough to adequately mitigate security risk, the Ponemon study reports. 

Not surprisingly, cybersecurity has become the #1 business function outsourced today, with 77% of organizations outsourcing security activities like patch management to a managed security services provider (MSSP), the Deloitte 2024 Global Outsourcing Survey found. With patch management as a core competency, exceptional managed security services providers like Auxis have the time, tools, resources, and patching best practices already in place to keep organizations updated and secure. 

Leveraging top-tier and cost-effective cybersecurity talent at its Security Operations Center in Latin America, Auxis helps organizations overcome resource shortages in the U.S. to stay on top of zero-day vulnerabilities and other critical threats, deliver insight into your IT infrastructure with detailed reporting, and automatically apply patches to avoid gaps that could be risky to your business. The result: your IT team can stay focused on critical business initiatives or more pressing needs. 

The importance of patch management can’t be overstated. Outsourcing the patch management process to Auxis helps deliver the mature security framework you need to slam the door on hackers. 

Want to learn more about strengthening your organization’s security posture? Schedule a consultation with our cybersecurity experts today! Or, visit our resource center for more cybersecurity tips, strategies, and success stories.

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