Intelligent CIO Middle East Issue 30 | Page 25

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TRENDING SERVICENOW RESEARCH UNCOVERS SECURITY’S ‘PATCHING PARADOX’ A report from ServiceNow has found that 63% of EMEA security professionals plan to hire additional staff to deal with vulnerability response over the next 12 months. But Philip van der Wilt, of ServiceNow, argues that more talent alone won’t solve the problem. S erviceNow has released new research, Today’s State of Vulnerability Response: Patch Work Demands Attention, based on a survey conducted with the Ponemon Institute. The report uncovered security’s ‘patching paradox’: hiring more people does not equal better security. While security teams plan to hire more staffing resources for vulnerability response – and may need to do so – they won’t improve their security posture if they don’t fix broken patching processes. Firms struggle with patching because they use manual processes and can’t prioritise what needs to be patched first. The study found www.intelligentcio.com that efficient vulnerability response processes are critical because timely patching is the most successful tactic companies employed in avoiding security breaches. ServiceNow surveyed nearly 3,000 security professionals to understand the effectiveness of their vulnerability response tools and processes. Vulnerability response is the process companies use to prioritise and remediate flaws in software that could serve as attack vectors. “Adding more talent alone won’t address the core issue plaguing today’s security teams,” said Philip van der Wilt, General Manager and Vice President Sales EMEA, “ TIMELY PATCHING IS THE MOST SUCCESSFUL TACTIC COMPANIES EMPLOYED IN AVOIDING SECURITY BREACHES. INTELLIGENTCIO 25