You're faced with a tempting delay on a security update. Can you afford to risk compromising your data?
Postponing a security update might buy time, but it leaves your data vulnerable. Consider these strategies to mitigate risk:
- Schedule updates during low-traffic periods to minimize disruption.
- Educate your team on the importance of timely updates to foster a culture of security.
- Implement interim protective measures if a delay is unavoidable, such as additional monitoring of your systems.
How do you balance operational needs with cybersecurity requirements?
You're faced with a tempting delay on a security update. Can you afford to risk compromising your data?
Postponing a security update might buy time, but it leaves your data vulnerable. Consider these strategies to mitigate risk:
- Schedule updates during low-traffic periods to minimize disruption.
- Educate your team on the importance of timely updates to foster a culture of security.
- Implement interim protective measures if a delay is unavoidable, such as additional monitoring of your systems.
How do you balance operational needs with cybersecurity requirements?
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Not all updates may do good, latest case is the Crowdstrike. It is always better to have a n-1 version. Of course, we should certainly do proper due diligence before taking any go/no-go decision
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Delayed security updates expose your system to known vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit. Cybercriminals follow showed vulnerabilities and promptly build exploits for unpatched systems. Unauthorized access, data theft, ransomware attacks, and system interruptions can result from delayed updates. Even slight delays can cause financial losses, reputational damage, and regulatory noncompliance. Therefore, security updates must be implemented quickly to secure your data and systems.
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What's a "tempting delay"? Who writes these things? Either you CANNOT due to whatever reason, or you CAN, which means you will. If you CANNOT, then you better have a risk assessment ready and a very good reason why, ie legacy systems, etc.
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I've no idea under what circumstances delaying a security patch can seem "tempting". Risk mitigation, assessment of deployment to a sandbox environment and testing outcomes is a proven way to ensure any patches you are deploying don't cause unforeseen issues. However, never be tempted to outright delay deployment unless testing has proven issues. Decreasing attack surface and vulnerable endpoint vectors is the best way to minimise potential for a breach and the occurrence of data loss. Data loss, reputation loss and the ensuing chaos is far more severe than any inconvenience caused by correct patch deployment.
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Delaying a security update is risky and should be avoided. Security updates typically fix vulnerabilities that could be exploited by cybercriminals or malicious actors. By delaying them, you expose your system to potential threats, such as malware, ransomware, or data breaches. The risks of compromising your data can be significant and might result in: Loss of personal or sensitive information (e.g., passwords, financial details, PII information, and many more). Financial damage from fraud or identity theft. System downtime or functionality issues caused by malware or other attacks. Reputation damage if the breach involves personal, customer, or business data.
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