Imagine a company like “Acme Widgets.” Its computer network consists of a variety of PCs running Windows 7, Windows 10, or Windows 11. The staff uses different Office software versions, including Office 2012, Office 2016, and Open Office. There are half a dozen antivirus programs and versions that are supposed to be protecting these devices. Connections to printers and wireless networks are as inconsistent and varied as everything else. Unfortunately, the IT team has limited resources to keep up with installing upgrades and providing support for every device and user.

If your system environment is anything like Acme’s, which is fairly typical of small and medium enterprise businesses, you should anticipate a higher risk of equipment failure and cyber security intrusion. Also, expect support costs to be higher and staff productivity lower than teams with fully configured IT assets. Security will be very hard to implement or verify. Your business continuity will certainly be in jeopardy. Now, let’s figure out a better way to manage all these assets for support, security, and productivity.

Holes in the Security Armor

IT asset inconsistencies create the perfect storm for failure. Without the appropriate tools and processes, the IT staff is stretched thin trying to keep up with customer support. Often this means your other employees will be frustrated by the ongoing upgrades, reconfigurations, and issue tickets disrupting their ability to simply get through the day and complete their tasks. To fix this situation you need to know exactly what’s going on and how your business is impacted by this broken process. Start by asking yourself:

1. What are the inconsistencies with your company’s devices, software, and configurations?
2. How will these issues make it harder for your IT staff to manage and secure the networks?
3. What savings will you reap if you remove these inconsistencies and streamline the process?
4. What Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) will you realize by implementing a predictable process?

Tackle IT Inconsistencies

Managing company assets requires having a defined process that works. All enterprise assets and software have life cycles. For that reason, configuration updates need to be managed, maintained, and tracked to maintain a record that can be reviewed for compliance audits and leveraged for timely incident response.

Establishing and implementing a configuration management workflow process will provide you a way to predict and measure all aspects of your IT assets. Apply it to all devices and network environments, including on-premise, remote, and cloud.

Standardize Controls

The best way to implement this workflow process is to follow best practice control standards which recommend taking a systematic approach to managing, organizing and tracking the changes made to an IT infrastructure.

By utilizing a strict configuration management system, your organization can ensure that your systems are secure and stable. With fewer obstacles, end users will experience greater productivity.

The CIS Control 4.1 standard recommends the following actions to remediate an environment like our example at Acme Widgets: “Establish and maintain a secure configuration process for enterprise assets (end-user devices, including portable and mobile, non-computing/IoT devices, and servers) and software (operating systems and applications). Review and update documentation annually, or when significant enterprise changes occur that could impact this Safeguard.”

You can start by defining a configuration management policy that configures and maintains assets in a secure state. Include automation tools that can help track and enforce the rules you adopt in this policy. The result will be lower IT support costs, a more productive workforce, and a vastly more secure network. The key benefits you will experience include:

• Increased visibility: Identify potential weaknesses where security may be lacking and help mitigate risks.
• Improved productivity: Increase the efficiency of your IT team so they can focus on productivity improvements rather than dealing with potential cyberattacks.
• Enhanced customer trust: Provide assurance that customer data is safe and secure.

CCI Managed Services can help you identify and document the inconsistencies in your IT configurations and start the conversation that leads to a more deliberate, consistent, and secure network. Since 1987, we’ve been your local network management experts. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions about how to lock out threats and improve your business performance.

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It’s like a never-ending game of cat and mouse. The cycle starts with software hackers exploiting vulnerabilities in software networks before the users and manufacturers know about them, stealing data and reaping financial booty (e.g., ransomware attacks). Software manufacturers respond by releasing patches to fix the holes in the security armor. And finally, IT professionals and users scramble to update their systems, disrupting day-to-day operations. And the cycle continuously repeats itself because there will always be hackers.

For the user, most of the time the patches work as advertised. But not always. Once-in-a-while they don’t. Occasionally a patch will cause unexpected and potentially serious problems for your business and your IT department. This may seem like a band-aid approach to a systemic issue. The problem is this – how do you know what updates are critical and must be installed? How do you avoid bad patches? How do you know what systems have been patched and which haven’t? The bottom-line question is what is the best way to minimize disruptions to your staff caused by patch notifications and all of the associated system reboots that are required?

Ferreting Through Software Patches

Unpatched software can hurt your business. It opens the door to software vulnerabilities, such as loss/theft of data, regulatory compliance issues, damage to the company’s reputation, and reduced staff productivity.

Unfortunately, IT and security professionals find patching to be complex and time-consuming. Oftentimes, there is often a lack of formal patch tracking and no vulnerability monitoring and management process. And who wants to actually respond to every patch notification sent by the various software manufacturers?

Think about your organization’s processes and procedures and how these questions could impact your operations:

• How do you know when a system or application on your network has not been updated and may be vulnerable to exploits?
• How do you know how urgent the patch is and how quickly you need to react and close vulnerabilities?
• How can you tell which updates fix problems but won’t create new ones?
• How can you stay ahead of the game to adequately protect data and users?
• How can you identify and roll back bad patches that will impede your business?

To answer these questions, you need to assess your software manufacturer’s patches as well your business processes for potential side effects. Unfortunately, IT resources are often stretched thin, busy keeping up with day-to-day operational tasks, and helping users with immediate problems. Finding the time to track patches and install the right ones to secure systems and networks without disrupting business operations typically gets delayed, leaving your security in limbo and data unprotected. This is where CCI Managed Services can help.

The Software Patch Solution that Works

We’ve been discussing CIS Control standards, the industry-proven recommendations for securing your systems and networks. At CCI, we believe these standards are crucially important for continuity of business success.

For patches, the 7.3 and 7.4 CIS controls offer the best advice for patching your software: “Perform operating system and application updates on enterprise assets through automated patch management on a monthly, or more frequent, basis.” The catch is finding the right solution customized for your specific needs.

If you rely on automatic updates, centrally managed alternatives can offer more consistent results for continuous patch installation and protection, as well useful tools when it is necessary to roll back any bad patches that your staff encounters. This approach may be within reach for your own staff to implement. However, utilizing the resources of a Managed Service Provider experienced in patch management can provide the right support to effectively manage patches and avoid disruptions.

Ask us specifically about our practical security assessment and report card. We can evaluate your current approach to patching, as well as discuss dozens of other factors that affect the security of the technology you use.

The CCI approach is to present you with an affordable way to obtain a clear understanding of the security risks that exist today, and to focus your resources where they will make the most positive impact for tomorrow. For further information about patches and the best way to manage them, contact us today.

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