CYBERSECURITY

PATCH MANAGEMENT

PATCH MANAGEMENT

Protecting Critical Infrastructure

A Risk-Based Patch Management Program in Operational Technology (OT) security is crucial for safeguarding critical infrastructure and industrial systems.

PRIORITIZATION OF VULNERABILITIES

Prioritize patching based on the criticality and potential impact of vulnerabilities.

BUSINESS CONTINUITY

Minimize the frequency and impact of downtime by assessing the impact of patches on system reliability.

REGULATORY COMPLIANCE

Demonstrate compliance with a documented approach to addressing vulnerabilities.

enhance-security-posture-icon

IMPROVED INCIDENT RESPONSE

Proactively patch high-risk vulnerabilities to reduce the likelihood of security incidents.

STAKEHOLDER CONFIDENCE

A robust patch management program builds trust with stakeholders, including customers, investors, and regulators.

STAY UP TO DATE

Apply patch updates to replace end of support versions.

1100+
NUMBER OF SITES WITH OUR PATCH SOLUTIONS DEPLOYED
2,950
VENDORS CURRENTLY SUPPORTED
4,226
UNIQUE VERSIONS CURRENTLY SUPPORTED
169,744
CUSTOMER ASSETS CURRENTLY SUPPORTED

PATCH MANAGEMENT

Six Challenges With Patch Management in ICS

A risk-based patch management program in OT security is essential for effectively managing vulnerabilities, mitigating risks, and ensuring the reliability and security of critical infrastructure and industrial systems. It allows organizations to allocate resources wisely, reduce downtime, and maintain compliance with regulatory requirements (like NERC CIP) while enhancing overall cybersecurity posture. Without Foxguard, patch acquisition, and application pose the following unique challenges within industrial control systems:

DRAWS HEAVILY ON INTERNAL RESOURCES

Acquiring uncorrupt patches and updates from legitimate sources is labor-intensive. Staff must continually monitor hundreds of third-party software and vendor websites for newly released patches and updates.

IDENTIFYING CRITICAL ASSETS AND SYSTEMS

As the complexity of ICS environments evolves, so does the number of devices and applications requiring patching for security and compliance. Distilling hundreds of thousands of assets down to hundreds of unique items requiring patches is an ongoing challenge.

REQUIRES SPECIFIC TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERTISE

Documenting patch mining procedures and ensuring downloaded patches and updates are not corrupt and come from legitimate sources requires experience and knowledge.

REQUIRES TESTING AND PATCH VALIDATION

Patches and updates must undergo rigorous testing in a simulated environment with a performance comparison before and after patch implementation.

Can Result in Downtime, Disruptions, or Delay

Implementing every available patch in the operational technology (OT) environment can slow, stop, or disrupt critical services. Each patch implementation must be carefully weighed against the risk of operational disruption.

CARRIES INDUSTRY-SPECIFIC COMPLIANCE BURDEN

Each industry has specific requirements and guidance. It’s essential to keep up with these ever-changing requirements.

OUR SOLUTIONS

Our Robust Patch Management Solutions Overcome
Inherent Challenges of Patching

We designed our Patch Management Solutions to address the challenges typically found when patching ICS environments. Moreover, our patches address CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) in CISA KEV (Known Exploited Vulnerabilities).

SHIFT THE ONUS FROM YOUR INTERNAL RESOURCES TO FOXGUARD

First, we build your unique master asset list (MAL) distilling your assets down to unique items (vendor, product, version) requiring patches.

NOTIFY YOU OF AVAILABLE VENDOR-APPROVED PATCHES

Our documented patch intelligence mining process detects which patches apply to your organization, reducing the burden on your organization.

INTEGRATE WITH YOUR THIRD-PARTY OR PROPRIETARY PLATFORMS AND TOOLS

We can incorporate asset information from your third-party tools and provide patch intelligence in machine readable format back to you.

MINIMIZE DISRUPTIONS

We ensure secure patch binary transmittal to your organization. You can group and schedule appropriate patches to prevent downtime.

DOCUMENT YOUR COMPLIANCE

Our system creates automated compliance recordkeeping for audit purposes.

PATCH VALIDATION AND DEPLOYMENT

Our Patch validation services are available to support your OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) or your own testing and validation requirements. Sentrigard®Patch and on-site services are available for patch deployment.

LOGO (1)

CISA KEV

What is CISA KEV?

The U.S. Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Known Exploited Vulnerability (KEV) database catalogs security flaws that attackers have exposed and exploited. Updated ad-hoc, it essentially identifies the most important vulnerabilities to address regardless of their severity score (CVSS).

CISA KEV CATALOG

The CISA KEV database details the following:

  • Exploited Vulnerabilities and associated CVE’s
  • Required action (i.e., remediation).
  • Deadline for completing actions

FOXGUARD PROVIDES PATCH AVAILABILITY INTELLIGENCE REPORTS

You can choose from two automation subscriptions for CISA KEV. See our Patch Availability Report (PAR)—Traditional PAR and Dynamic PAR.

CHALLENGES WITH CISA KEV’S REQUIRED REMEDIATION

Remediation to address CVEs in the CISA KEV poses several challenges:

  • CISA KEV updates occur ad hoc, remediation is usually an unplanned activity, which can be disruptive.
  • Organizations must determine if CVE entries apply to their specific assets.
  • The CISA KEV update may reference a vulnerability you have already addressed.
  • Detailed recordkeeping to verify and document your cybersecurity posture is burdensome.

Foxguard provides patch intelligence reports in both human and machine readable formats specific to the assets in your environment.

PATCH MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS

We Offer the Following Patch Management Subscriptions

  • Patch Availability Report
  • Patch Binary Acquisition
  • Sentrigard® Patch Deployment

PATCH AVAILABILITY REPORT: PAR SUBSCRIPTION

Ease your Worries About Missing a Vital Cybersecurity Fix

WHAT PAR IS

The patch availability report (PAR) is a subscription notification service that identifies the specific security patches and updates your systems need.

HOW THE PAR SUBSCRIPTION WORKS

Foxguard’s PAR subscription normalizes your enterprise asset list to the critical vendor and product level, monitors your vendors for security releases, and reports back to you at the asset level.

BENEFITS OF THE PAR PROGRAM

Our reports are designed for security and compliance. 

  • One source and one calendar for patch intelligence. 
  • Audit-ready documentation. 
  • Security classification. 
  • Human and Machine-Readable formats.
  • Documents vendor end of support (EOS).

PATCH BINARY ACQUISITION PROGRAM

Save Time and Get the Precise Security Fixes that Apply to You

WHAT THE PBA PROGRAM IS

Foxguard has documented processes, procedures, and tooling to securely acquire and deliver the specific patch binary files you need.

HOW THE PBA PROGRAM WORKS

We access the vendor sites to source the security patches and updates you need We ease your burden of acquiring and documenting each of the necessary security patches.

BENEFITS OF THE PBA PROGRAM

This process is fully documented and can be used as an audit trail. Procuring these patches securely guarantees you get what you need, on time, without investing valuable internal resources.   

  • Resource cost reduction and reallocation. 
  • Full scope of patches—private and public. 
  • Compliance with your industry requirements 
  • Secure supply chain 
  • Documentation of end of support (EOS) items.

AUTOMATE THE DEPLOYMENT OF PATCHES

Sentrigard® Patch Deployment

SENTRIGARD® PATCH MANAGEMENT

The Sentrigard® Patch platform is a hardened, purposebuilt security platform that allows customers to manage on-premises patch deployment from a centralized suite of industry-proven automation tools.

HOW SENTRIGARD® PATCH WORKS

Automation With Expert Oversight

Automation tools combined with an expert implementation team allow for seamless patching services.

ADVANTAGES OF SENTRIGARD® PATCH DEPLOYMENT

Sentrigard® Patch integrates seamlessly with PAR and PBA for a single-source patching solution. Our exclusive tools offer the following benefits: 

  • Patch more quickly with efficient, automated, field-proven tools. 
  • Schedule your patches at an optimal time. 
  • Use pre-engineered reporting capabilities to meet your compliance needs.

OEM/ENTERPRISE PATCH VALIDATION SERVICES

Patch Validation in a Simulated Critical Infrastructure Environment

Foxguard has a patch validation and testing lab for our OEM/Enterprise customers that mimics live critical infrastructure environments. We support multiple hardware vendors and can test on rolling time cycles. If you are not familiar with validation best practices, we can teach you how to set up your own lab or come to your facility to help you build your own validation lab.

OUR CLIENTS SAY IT THE BEST

Click outside to hide the comparison bar
Compare
Scroll to Top