Vulnerability Management
The continuous process of identifying, classifying, prioritizing, remediating, and mitigating software vulnerabilities. Effective vulnerability management is a key requirement of DORA, ISO 27001, and SOC 2 to maintain system security and operational resilience.
Vulnerability management is a continuous lifecycle process that goes beyond simple vulnerability scanning. It encompasses asset discovery and inventory, regular vulnerability scanning and assessment, risk-based prioritization of findings, remediation through patching or compensating controls, verification of remediation effectiveness, and reporting and metrics tracking.
DORA requires financial entities to include vulnerability management in their ICT risk management framework. This includes maintaining awareness of current threats and vulnerabilities, promptly applying security patches, and conducting regular security assessments. DORA also emphasizes the importance of monitoring vulnerabilities in third-party systems and services.
Best practices include maintaining a complete asset inventory, conducting scans at least weekly for critical systems, using CVSS scores combined with business context for prioritization, establishing SLAs for remediation (e.g., critical: 48 hours, high: 7 days, medium: 30 days), and tracking metrics such as mean time to remediate and vulnerability density.
Related Terms
Penetration Testing
A simulated cyberattack against a system, network, or application to evaluate its security. Penetration testing identifies vulnerabilities that could be exploited by real attackers and is required under DORA's digital operational resilience testing framework.
ICT Risk Management
The process of identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks associated with information and communication technology systems. Under DORA, financial entities must maintain a comprehensive ICT risk management framework covering identification, protection, detection, response, and recovery.
Continuous Monitoring
An ongoing process of observing, evaluating, and maintaining awareness of information security controls, vulnerabilities, and threats. Continuous monitoring ensures that compliance status is maintained between formal audits and enables rapid detection of control failures.
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