Secon Cyber extends server patching support to private and public organisations
by Raymund Taylan, Senior Security Advisor
19 February 2021
Neglecting server vulnerabilities could lead to real financial or reputational impacts if left unchecked, untreated, and without security controls. Unpatched vulnerabilities are a prime attack surface area for cyber criminals and could be the source of a major security breach if you don’t have the right strategies or internal resources to ensure your server estate is continually patched to vendor recommended standards.
Secon Cyber is one of the first managed security service providers (MSSPs) in the UK to introduce a service which addresses one of the most pressing and difficult challenges facing security professionals today – server patch management.
Server vulnerabilities increase every second
With the growing complexity of maintaining the right level of server security and continuous operations, server patching has become one of the most pressing and difficult challenges facing security professionals today.
Vulnerabilities are increasingly being reported in Linux operating systems and other Linux distributions that use the .rpm file format. Any unpatched vulnerability is a weakness that can be exploited by cyber criminals to gain unauthorised access and steal confidential information without being detected.
Caveats of server patching
Many organisations find server patching a complex process to sustain. Server patch testing may require multiple reboots and consume resources.
An assessment of servers that support business-critical applications will determine whether patch applications need to be delayed depending on the impact of server downtime to business operations. Compensating security controls, such as a firewall or Intrusion Prevention System, must also be in place in scenarios where patch applications will prolong system or service downtime.
Server Patching as a Service: Secon Cyber’s approach to server patching
Utilising Secon Cyber’s state of the art ConnectProtect® platform, Secon Cyber’s experienced security experts will offload the complex process of server patching and perform the following tasks to enable your IT security team focus on strategic security projects:
- Continuous discovery of vulnerabilities from all managed server assets
- Risk assessment on discovered vulnerabilities
- Patch testing, deployment and remediation
- Continuous service improvement
Server Patching as a Service also includes access to a wider pool of capability within Secon Cyber, such as 24×7 support from experienced security experts to help secure unpatched server platforms from known vulnerabilities.
About author
Raymund is an information and network security professional with a wealth of secure network, data, cloud Infrastructure and endpoint design and implementation experience. His role as a Senior Security Advisor is to work with our clients to help them reach cyber security maturity.
