Vulnerability management: an attitude of mind?

Abstract

A multitude of online attacks is now made possible through the exploitation of vulnerabilities in operating systems, applications and online services. As a consequence, vulnerability management should be seen as an essential and non-optional task for responsible IT users. However, the persistence of open and unpatched systems demonstrates that this is far from the default mindset across the related user community. And it clearly demonstrates that, while technical measures such as automated updates can contribute towards a solution, vulnerability management is also very much a human issue. In short, successfully tackling the matter requires both an awareness of the problem and a willingness to address it. However, the persistence of open and unpatched systems demonstrates that this is far from the default mindset across the related user community. And it clearly demonstrates that, while technical measures such as automated updates can contribute towards a solution, vulnerability management is also very much a human issue. In short, successfully tackling the matter requires both an awareness of the problem and a willingness to address it. Steven Furnell and Maria Papadaki examine how vulnerability management can be undermined by the scale and difficulty of the task, and the need to accept responsibility for the job.