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Vulnerability Management Program Overview

Updated: Oct 13, 2023



Let's face it, vulnerability management is a pain! In an online SANS article titled "Vulnerability Management Maturity Model Part I" authored by James Risto, he made an amusing quote about the challenges of vulnerability management. You can read the article here: https://www.sans.org/blog/vulnerability-management-maturity-model/


"You cannot win at vulnerability management. You can only mature and get better at it.

No, I am not kidding. You cannot win. Ever."


For those engaged in vulnerability management, it's amusing because that statement rings so true.


To evaluate and measure the capabilities of your vulnerability management program effectively, James Risto, in collaboration with fellow SANS instructor David Hazar, outlines a comprehensive vulnerability management maturity model represented by the acronym P.I.A.C.T.


The P.I.A.C.T model serves as a structured guide for comprehensive vulnerability management maturity. The items below do not encompass everything within a P.I.A.C.T area but simply highlight some key functions occurring in that area.


Prepare

  • Does your organization have the necessary policies and procedures in place to support effective vulnerability management?

  • Do you adhere to recognized cybersecurity frameworks such as NIST, CIS, etc?

  • Does your organization employ data classification practices?

  • Is there robust governance over IT systems and cybersecurity programs?

Identify

  • What vulnerabilities exist within your organization?

  • How do you discover vulnerabilities?

    • Automated detection

    • Manual detection

    • External detection

    • Vulnerability scanning

Analyze/Assess


This step involves reviewing, categorizing, and prioritizing vulnerabilities.

  • Includes validation to identify false positives.

  • Categorizing vulnerabilities to facilitate cost-effective cybersecurity risk management.

  • Prioritization. Determining which vulnerabilities to address first.

  • Ongoing vulnerability tracking.

Communicate

  • This aspect pertains to vulnerability management metrics, reporting, and alerting.

Treat

  • Implementation of mitigation measures, including patch management.

  • Ensuring proper configuration management.

  • Managing changes effectively within the organization.

Example - Vulnerability Scanning


While vulnerability scanning is undeniably a vital element of a vulnerability management program, it should be emphasized that it doesn't constitute a complete vulnerability management program in isolation.


To gauge the maturity of your vulnerability management program, you can employ a mapping approach. In this method, the stages of the vulnerability management P.I.A.C.T model are plotted along the Y-axis against a typical five-stage Capability Maturity Model (CMM) on the X-axis. For instance, if your organization possesses a fully operational vulnerability scanning system that conducts regular scans, addressing the "Identify" aspect within the P.I.A.C.T framework, this would position your organization at the "Defined" stage within the vulnerability management CMM.




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