Top 5 Vulnerability Management Challenges and How to Overcome Them

Vulnerability management in an organization is a never-ending process that needs no introduction. As vulnerabilities spread like wildfire, IT admins and IT security teams need to be on top of their firefighting (read as vulnerability management) game to protect the endpoints and corporate data from being charred.

The constantly evolving threat landscape makes vulnerability management easier said than done. CISOs, IT admins, and everyone else understand why vulnerability management is important and why it needs to be strategized and prioritized. Unfortunately, when it comes to taking action, organizations often find them surrounded by unanticipated challenges.

This article outlines the top challenges faced by organizations in effective vulnerability management and how they can be solved seamlessly.

• Cross-team coordination for vulnerability prioritization and mitigation
• Multiple tools add to the confusion
• Zero days and misconfigurations add up to fatigue
• Resource Constraints
• Rise in Shadow IT

1) Cross-team coordination for vulnerability prioritization and mitigation

In large organizations, there are multiple divisions within the SOC team that perform individual tasks related to the vulnerability management process.

While the security analysts monitor and scan the network for vulnerabilities using an automated vulnerability scanning tool, the threat-hunting teams are positioned to analyze the network for vulnerabilities using threat intelligence and experience, in case some have evaded the automated scanning or detection.

Once the vulnerabilities are detected, the incident response team rapidly develops strategies to mitigate the vulnerabilities and prevent further escalations. At the top of the chain are the security managers who lead the entire process, coordinate the incident response strategies, and, in case of critical escalations, step in and help with the prioritization of vulnerabilities and mitigation efforts.

Collaboration between the various teams and personnel is not as smooth as it might seem. Since different groups have different responsibilities, the vulnerability management process experiences latency.

Vulnerability Manager Plus' unified console presents admins and all the stakeholders involved in the vulnerability management process with a unified dashboard, that improves visibility over the detected threats and misconfigurations. With role-based access controls, the different stakeholders can log in to the console and perform their assigned tasks, i.e. vulnerability prioritization, patch testing, and deployment.

2) Multiple tools add to the confusion

Another common yet unnoticed challenge in the vulnerability management process is the use of multiple tools. In organizations, admins often juggle between various tools, one for vulnerability scanning and assessment, one to patch vulnerabilities, another one to keep track of user requests, and many more.

The catch here is the learning curve and the context switching. To break it down into simpler terms, every tool has a different user interface, and a needs to be understood to use it optimally. In organizations where admins frequently shift roles or quit, new admins take their own time to understand the tool.

This often adds up to an unmeasurable delay. Moreover, juggling between multiple tabs to keep track of the vulnerability management process makes the job far more difficult and increases the complexity for the admins handling them.

The best solution is to incorporate a single tool that has multiple capabilities and integrations with other tools. The single console should be capable of delivering vulnerability scanning, prioritization, and mitigation as well as integrating with third-party tools, thus providing all-around visibility for the admins.

3) Zero days and misconfigurations add up to fatigue

Over 40K vulnerabilities were discovered in 2024. That makes it over 100 vulnerabilities every day. Imagine manually scanning these vulnerabilities and developing mitigation strategies. The sheer magnitude of vulnerabilities and misconfigurations discovered while scanning an organization's networks is immense.

Then again, not all vulnerabilities need to be mitigated as soon as possible. Hence, it is important to understand the likeability of the exploit and then prioritize the vulnerabilities for mitigation. It's easy for admins to get drowned in the ocean of exploits, especially when more than 100 vulnerabilities are discovered in a day. This can be solved using risk-based prioritization. Based on the CVSS scores, and other factors that indicate the likeability of exploitation, admins can choose which ones have the most severe vulnerabilities.

4) Resource Constraints

While not a technical problem, but lack of experienced IT personnel in an organization also weighs up to the delay in vulnerability remediation. Adding to it, organizations with high employee churn rates often find it difficult to find replacements who are as skilled or as knowledgeable as the former employees, about the vulnerability assessment tools used in the organization.

5) Rise in Shadow IT

Shadow IT has been gaining prominence over the last few years. In simple terms, shadow IT is the usage of personal devices or devices that are not recognized/authorized by the IT teams in an organization.

For instance, an employee might use his personal mobile phone within the organization for work without the knowledge of the IT teams. This phone might have sensitive corporate information, that the employee downloads to view for work.

Managing such devices turns out to be a real hassle, and turn out to be a real risk for organizations. Additionally, these devices can often lead to compliance issues and breaches.

Eradicating shadow IT might not be possible using tools. The optimal way to go about it should be employee awareness. Educating the employees about the risks of using such devices should be made mandatory. Also, IT teams should conduct frequent network scans to detect if any unassigned devices are connected to the organization's network, via Wi-Fi or LAN.

Overcoming the above-mentioned challenges can considerably reduce an organization's risk exposure and streamline the vulnerability management process. Rapid detection and mitigation from a single console not only hastens the remediation process but also saves man hours, thereby directly increasing employee productivity.

ManageEngine Vulnerability Manager Plus is an all-inclusive vulnerability detection and mitigation solution with native detection, assessment, and patching capabilities. From zero days, vulnerabilities, and misconfigurations, to CIS compliance adherence and integration with other tools, this solution offers multiple capabilities from a single console. Download and try out the 30-day free trial today!