Page 111 - Cyber Defense eMagazine June 2024

processes for patching have put cybersecurity professionals at a disadvantage when extensive
coordination and scheduled system downtime is required. Often, fear of too many delays ultimately
pushes available patches being applied by weeks or even months. Staffing shortages being seen across
the cybersecurity industry also has a negative impact on the priorities that patch management has for
organizations.

This is where live patching comes into play to not only lighten the load of overburdened IT teams, but to
seamlessly and efficiently apply security patches to open vulnerabilities as soon as they become
available. Three prime advantages to choosing a live patching approach over traditional methods
includes:

• Timely Vulnerability Mitigation: Proactive patching ensures that vulnerabilities are addressed as
soon as patches become available. This significantly reduces the window of opportunity for
attackers, minimizing the risk of successful exploitation.
• Reduced Downtime and Disruption: Applying live patches minimizes the risk of unexpected
system failures, crashes, or downtime resulting from unpatched vulnerabilities. This ensures
smooth operations, uninterrupted services, and increased customer confidence.
• Reduced Risky Reboots: Live patching eliminates the need for scheduled maintenance windows
in which a system can be rebooted or services. Rolling reboots and restarts themselves can be
risky and disruptive to an organization's business and daily operations if forced to shut down
temporarily.

Consistent patch management is essential for effective enterprise security and even more beneficial for
the healthcare industry as it strengthens its mitigation tactics against future attacks. By automating the
patching process and minimizing needed downtime and reboots for medical institutions, risk factors and
potential attack surfaces can be greatly reduced, thereby enhancing the overall cybersecurity resilience.

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About the Author

Joao Correia serves as the Technical Evangelist for TuxCare, a global
innovator in enterprise-grade cybersecurity for Linux. Joao can be reached
online at [email protected] , https://www.linkedin.com/in/joao-
correia-281a5a94/ and at our company website www.tuxcare.com

Cyber Defense eMagazine – June 2024 Edition 111
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