Patch management is the process of applying vendor-issued updates to close security vulnerabilities and optimize the performance of software and devices. Patch management is sometimes considered a part of vulnerability management. In practice, patch management is about balancing cybersecurity with the business’s operational needs. Patch management helps organizations maintain a high level of cyber hygiene to limit exposure to cyber threat actors. It’s important for a number of reasons: Security: With patch management, organizations reduce their security risk, as it fixes the security vulnerabilities in their software and applications that hackers might exploit.
