Security News > 2024 > July > Patch management still seemingly abysmal because no one wants the job

Coupled with an exploding ecosystem of third-party apps, endpoint management tools that aren't really designed to handle patch management, bandwidth issues, and architectural challenges, IT teams have "An overwhelming amount of work to do," Hewitt told us.

Endpoint management biz Adaptiva revealed in its 2023 state of patch handling report [PDF] that the average organization manages around 2,900 software applications, and 69 percent of IT teams believe it's impossible to get all of them patched on schedule.

Adaptiva's study cited an increasing number of apps being installed on the average endpoint, the relatively low bandwidth for remote patch deployments, and the other issues that Hewitt pointed out.

"Oftentimes you have one platform for vulnerability management and another for patch management with no common dataset underneath," Hewitt told us, adding that several IT products are already moving in that direction.

"A lot of the endpoint management tools are building unified vulnerability and patch management capabilities, so I see a future trend toward trying to make that easier when it comes to user endpoints," Hewitt predicted.

Both analysts we spoke to for this piece agreed that, while patching posture continues to be poor across the business world, for some understandable reasons, it doesn't necessarily need to be.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/07/25/patch_management_study/