Patching third-party applications is important for several reasons. First, it helps defend against vulnerabilities that can be exploited by cyber attackers, reducing the likelihood of a successful attack and fixing bugs that could affect the security and functionality of the software. 93% of companies experiencing a breach due to unpatched vulnerabilities in third-party vendors or applications with the average cost of a data breach in the US at $9.4 million.
Neglecting to patch third-party applications can pose significant risks to an organization including:
- Increased Vulnerability to Cyber Attacks: Unpatched third-party applications can serve as entry points for malware and cyber-attacks, making the entire network vulnerable.
- Data Breaches: Unpatched vulnerabilities in third-party apps can lead to data breaches, allowing hackers to steal sensitive data, launch attacks, or take control of systems.
- Financial Repercussions: The average cost of a data breach in the US is substantial, at $9.4 million, emphasizing the financial impact of cyber incidents caused by unpatched vulnerabilities.
- Compliance Violations: Failure to patch third-party applications can hinder an organization’s ability to achieve and maintain cybersecurity regulatory compliance, such as PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliance.
Case in point with this month’s update to Microsoft SharePoint: CISA warns that attackers are now exploiting a critical Microsoft SharePoint privilege escalation vulnerability that can be chained with another critical bug for remote code execution. Tracked as CVE-2023-29357, the security flaw enables remote attackers to get admin privileges on unpatched servers by circumventing authentication using spoofed JWT auth tokens.
One important resource for tracking actively exploited vulnerabilities that may affect your application portfolio is the CISA catalogue, described as,
“For the benefit of the cybersecurity community and network defenders—and to help every organization better manage vulnerabilities and keep pace with threat activity—CISA maintains the authoritative source of vulnerabilities that have been exploited in the wild.”
Readiness has been working with the CAS, CISA and Microsoft for the past 5 years on patch management building upon an intimate knowledge of applications, patch methodologies and how patches may affect application performance once deployed.
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