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Introduction: The Urgency of Evolving Vulnerability Management
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At Infosecurity Europe 2025, Jon Ridyard addressed the mounting pressure on cybersecurity teams due to the relentless growth of publicly disclosed vulnerabilities. He challenged the notion of vulnerability management as a finite program, suggesting instead a continuous threat exposure monitoring (CTEM) model that relies on breach simulation, attack path analysis, and automated testing. According to Ridyard, treating vulnerability management as an ongoing process fosters resilience and responsiveness.
He further noted that relying purely on technical scores like CVSS is flawed. These scores lack the context of an organizationâs unique environment, assets, and business priorities. Instead, Ridyard proposed a matrix-based risk prioritization approach that considers three layers: security (e.g., CVSS), asset (e.g., environment and endpoint status), and business context (e.g., potential operational disruption).
To streamline vulnerability triage, Ridyard advised blending automation with manual validation. Automated systems can rapidly gather known data such as CVE and EPSS scores, easing the load on human analysts. Similarly, automation should be built into the remediation phase with logical rules that allow secure systems to self-correct where possible.
A key aspect of success, according to Ridyard, lies in mobilizing and aligning teams. He advocated formalizing roles and responsibilities while also using gamification to transform patch management from a tedious duty into a motivating team activity.
Additionally, Ridyard recommended introducing Protection Level Agreements (PLAs) to align board-level expectations with security capabilities and budgets. This transparency ensures accountability without overburdening teams. Finally, he stressed the need to invest in the wellbeing of security practitioners, empowering them to be creative and purpose-driven rather than reactive and overwhelmed.
What Undercode Say:
The evolving cybersecurity threat landscape demands more than just rapid patchingâit requires intelligent, adaptive management grounded in organizational context. Ridyardâs approach aligns with what many forward-thinking cybersecurity leaders have already begun to embrace: a risk-centric, context-aware model for vulnerability management.
Traditional reliance on tools like CVSS, while still useful, fails to capture the nuances of real-world security threats. A vulnerability with a score of 9.8 might be irrelevant if it exists in a sandboxed, isolated environment. On the other hand, a lower-scoring issue affecting mission-critical production systems could have devastating consequences. This underlines the importance of a multidimensional prioritization matrix, combining security, asset, and business perspectives.
Automating triage and remediation steps is no longer a luxuryâitâs a necessity. However, automation must be intelligent. Blind automation can create more problems than it solves if thereâs no built-in logic. Using conditional logic to determine when to automate a fix versus escalate it for review ensures that remediation actions are not just fast but appropriate.
Ridyardâs emphasis on gamification and collaboration is especially timely. Security is not just a technical challenge, but also a cultural one. Siloed teams and unclear responsibilities often delay patching or allow vulnerabilities to persist. By creating an environment where teams are engaged, competitive in a healthy way, and well-informed about their roles, organizations can vastly improve their response times and morale.
The proposal of Protection Level Agreements is a smart move in the age of cybersecurity accountability. Unlike generic Service Level Agreements, PLAs tie security performance directly to financial and operational expectations. This not only protects the security team from unrealistic demands but also helps board members understand the return on investment in cybersecurity initiatives.
Most importantly, Ridyard highlights a too-often-ignored aspect: team wellbeing. Burnout is rampant among cybersecurity professionals. Empowering team members with creativity, autonomy, and recognition goes a long way in building resilient security operations.
In sum, Ridyardâs model doesnât just address the technical processâit reinvents the cultural and strategic approach to vulnerability management. It promotes a living, evolving ecosystem where security is continuous, collaborative, and sustainable.
Fact Checker Results â
đ CVSS alone is insufficient â Confirmed by multiple industry reports
đ ď¸ Automation in remediation improves efficiency â Backed by case studies from Gartner
đŻ Gamified patching increases engagement â Supported by internal findings from large enterprises
Prediction: The Future of Vulnerability Management
Looking ahead, vulnerability management will become increasingly predictive rather than reactive. AI-driven analysis will help forecast which vulnerabilities are most likely to be exploited, integrating with asset and business context in real-time. Organizations that embrace continuous exposure management today will be best positioned to handle zero-day threats tomorrow. Meanwhile, metrics like PLAs and gamification will become industry standards, transforming cybersecurity from a burden into a strategic advantage. đ§ đđ
References:
Reported By: www.infosecurity-magazine.com
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