What to Look for in a Vulnerability Management Tool

Like many things in the world of network security, vulnerability management can sometimes come off as a bit opaque. To those who don’t have first-hand experience with it, even the general ideas can seem too abstract to get a concrete understanding. This, however, doesn’t reduce the important nature of vulnerability management in today’s world of heightened need for cybersecurity.

Vulnerability management is, according to cybersecurity consultant Kelly Hammons, an overarching term for “the identification, classification, prioritization, and treatment of software vulnerabilities.” These vulnerabilities can come in many shapes and sizes, and are something that need to be addressed by all enterprises. Finding the correct vulnerability management tools is essential for addressing these gaps in security. Let’s dive deeper into why vulnerability management is so important and then what to look for in a vulnerability management tool.

Why Is Vulnerability Management Important?

There has never been a time when vulnerability management has held such a high priority for organizations across the board. This is because cyber attacks are becoming increasingly prevalent, while we also continue putting more reliance and trust into our digital world. Due to these converging forces, enterprises have to dedicate the appropriate resources to keeping security at its proper level.

But simply spending more and more on network security tools and services isn’t going to necessarily make your organization safer. Things need to be done with intelligence and purpose in order to yield optimal results. This is why you have to know hat to look for in a vulnerability management tool.

What to Look for in a Vulnerability Management Tool

Now that you’ve established the need for vulnerability management in general, it’s time to determine what sets good tools apart from less-desirable ones. Here are some of the characteristics that you should look for in a vulnerability management tool:

• High level of visibility – The ability to see what’s happening across your network is one of the most essential elements of a good vulnerability management tool. Without insight into what’s happening, there’s no way you can act in a way to stop threats. Seek out tools that empower you to monitor and record network activity in a thorough way.
• Ongoing and complete security – You don’t need a vulnerability management stack that only goes halfway. There’s really no point in protecting yourself at all if you’re going to only to it partially. This is why it’s important for vulnerability management tools to offer ongoing protection, complete with 24-7 support from highly qualified engineers. Threats don’t take breaks. Your vulnerability management tools can’t either. Only seek out tools that provide unprecedented uptime and accuracy. These tools will stop threats without inundating you with unneeded alerts.
• Intelligence built into tools – Machine learning-enhanced tools have the capability to vastly improve vulnerability management. Through more advanced data analysis and learning, ML-driven tools can identify and isolate threats with undeniable precision.
• Automated triage – There’s no time to waste when dealing with a security threat. The longer it’s able to exist freely on your networks, the greater its chances of leaping to its target. Even highly technologically savvy companies can be susceptible to data breaches. It’s important to isolate them before they’re allowed to cause serious harm. Utilizing vulnerability management tools with automated response playbooks can reduce the chances of a threat reaching its goal.
• Solid economics – Many people look at cybersecurity tools purely as a cost. This isn’t the right way of doing things. What you need to consider is the amount of money that’s being saved by securing your networks from dangerous intrusions. Breaches are extremely costly. Being able to prevent them through vulnerability management tools is a major concern for all enterprises.

Vulnerability management tools are a critical component of the modern enterprise. Knowing what to look for when selecting these tools can make a massive different in the effectiveness of your overall network security.