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Mary Yang

In the News: How AI Can Enhance Your Endpoint Security

By Endpoint Security, News
Published originally on September 29, 2023 on VMblog.

Endpoints are one of the easiest and most frequently abused access vectors for threat actors. In fact, according to IDC, 70 percent of successful cybersecurity breaches originate on endpoint devices. As the threat landscape becomes more complicated, many organizations are beginning to think about the impact of AI on cybersecurity – both from an offensive and defensive standpoint. However, despite numerous reports of threat actors abusing AI to reinforce and scale phishing attacks, spread ransomware, and rapidly exploit vulnerabilities, most organizations are unaware of how to maximize the benefits of AI for endpoint security.

To bridge this gap, here are the most impactful applications of AI to help enhance your endpoint security and a look at how the landscape might evolve over the next 12 to 24 months.

Read the full article on VMblog.

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In the News: Google patches new zero-day actively exploited in the Chrome browser

By Blog, News
Published originally by SCMedia and Steve Zurier on September 28,2023.

Google kept itself in the security news this week by posting Wednesday that it had issued patches for a new actively exploited zero-day in the Chrome browser.

The new zero-day — CVE-2023-5217 — the fifth zero-day actively exploited in the wild that Google has patched this year, was described as a heap buffer overflow in vp8 encoding in the libvpx free codec library. The flaw was reported by Clément Lecigne of Google’s Threat Analysis Group on Monday.

The most recent zero-day comes on the heels of Google reporting this week on CVE-2023-5129, a critical vulnerability in the libwebp image library now considered a duplicate of CVE-2023-4863 that affects how images are processed, potentially allowing attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected systems. Guenther explained that it had a broad attack surface and its CVSS score was assigned as 10.0 by Google, while NIST rated it as a high severity 8.8.

Ashley Leonard, founder and CEO at Syxsense, added that CVE-2023-5129 is a vulnerability which has been newly revealed in the WebP image library, also referred to as the “0day in WebP.” Previously, this CVE (CVE-2023-4863) was thought to be specific to Google Chrome, but it has now been updated as a flaw in libwebp, explained Leonard.

Read the full story on SCMedia.

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September 2023 Third-Party Roundup Webinar

By Patch Management, Patch Tuesday, Video, Webinars

Don’t miss out on September’s 3rd Party Patch Management Update.

Fill out the form to the right to watch as we dive into September’s bulletins and show you strategies for tackling the latest and most important 3rd Party Patch updates. Our IT industry expert, Jon Cassell, Syxsense’s Senior Solutions Architect, covers all of the latest updates.

Syxsense spots critical threats early and deploys instantly, with curated patch content that includes risk assessment, patch prioritization, and dedicated Patch scheduling for simple deployment every month.

Our experts have deployed over 100 million patches. Join us as we tackle this month’s updates and then get your own customized demo to see how Syxsense can help you manage patches, vulnerabilities, and more.

Watch the Webinar

Jon_Cassell

Hosted By: Jon Cassell, Syxsense Senior Solutions Architect

Jon is currently a Senior Solutions Architect at Syxsense and has been working in the IT and Infrastructure industries for the last 15 years. Before working at Syxsense, he was an IT Manager for a large financial services firm and has a background in Accounting and Tax consultation. He currently holds an MCSA in Server Infrastructure, A+, Network+, Security+, and Server+ certifications.

Female using typing on a laptop with multiple monitors and devices

A Comparative Breakdown of Patch and Vulnerability Management

By Blog, Cybersecurity, Endpoint Security, Patch Management, Vulnerability Management

“Tell me about your policies for patch and vulnerability management.”

How does your workplace keep up-to-date with the latest patches and updates? How about finding, assessing, and prioritizing vulnerabilities in your infrastructure?

Your next audit may want to know. They may want proof from your IT and HR department.

We advise waiting until an audit, though.

Patients, customers, the people your business helps every day — they’re depending on you way before an audit comes along.

No patch and vulnerability management? No complete cybersecurity strategy. If you don’t have a patch management program, you’re vulnerable to cyberattacks. And if you don’t have a vulnerability management program in place, you won’t know about the vulnerabilities in your system until it’s too late.

While they both aim to cut an organization’s risk and prevent security breaches, they differ in approach and scope.

Do you know why patch and vulnerability management is important?

What is the difference between patch and vulnerability management?

How do you patch hundreds or thousands of workstations?

Who owns both processes from end-to-end?

If your processes are showing some signs of neglect, check out the next upcoming sections for the quickest ways to reinvigorate and document your patch and vulnerability management.

What Should Patch Management Be Doing for You?

Patch management is a routine process of finding, verifying, testing, and installing the updates provided by software vendors to fix vulnerabilities.

Software developers are always working to improve the quality of their software. They release patches that introduce new features, change how existing ones work, and fix security vulnerabilities, and other bugs.

Unpatched systems quickly overwhelm those who handle patch management manually. The number of missing patches grows—a vicious cycle is born. Their risk only goes up with time.

Some System Administrators might be looking at thousands of workstations to patch. How do they patch them all? Patching isn’t just installing updates; it’s keeping track of what patches have been installed on each system so that you know when newer ones are available.

They’re using a systematic approach to fill in missing patches, and they’re automating as much as possible.

Inventory of all those devices? Already done on their behalf.

The eye-straining number of patches is rolled out based on vulnerability prioritization (not all patches need to be applied immediately.)

Deploying protects productivity when scheduled during off-hour maintenance windows.

Hackers know that many people don’t keep their systems up-to-date with security patches. The good news is that patching doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming.

What You Need to Know About Vulnerability Management

A vulnerability is a weakness in an application or system that could be exploited by hackers or other malicious actors to gain access to your data.

The goal of vulnerability management is to reduce risk by identifying, prioritizing, and remediating potential security holes before they can be exploited.

Vulnerability management solutions often include a vulnerability scanner—a tool that scans for known vulnerabilities across a network. It detects any software bugs that could lead to unwanted access, unsecure configurations, or other potential problems.

After identifying a vulnerable asset, you need to determine what action mitigates that vulnerability.

Who Owns Patch and Vulnerability Management Processes?

In a typical enterprise, patch management is overseen by the IT department, specifically under the purview of the system administrators, network administrators, or IT managers. Depending on the organizational structure, dedicated roles like Patch Manager or Cybersecurity Analysts are specifically tasked with this role. They’re responsible for upholding all systems, software, and applications with the latest patches. They collaborate with the security team to prioritize patches based on criticality and potential impact on the organization’s security posture.

In most cases, vulnerability management is overseen by the Information Security team, with the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) usually at the helm. The CISO sets the security strategy and works with stakeholders across the organization to maintain implementation.

The vulnerability management team usually includes security analysts and engineers who are tasked with identifying, evaluating, and mitigating vulnerabilities. They collaborate with the patch management team to tackle vulnerabilities and bolster the organization’s security defenses.

What Are the Similarities and Differences Between Patch and Vulnerability Management?

Both patch management and vulnerability management:

  • Are vital for shielding networks from potential threats.
  • Identify vulnerabilities and take steps to mitigate them.
  • Aim to provide an organization with a safe and secure IT environment.
  • Are part of each other—when a vulnerability is identified, one of the remedial actions could be to apply a patch.

However, the scope of patch management is often narrower. It’s mainly focused on maintaining up-to-date systems and software.

Vulnerability management includes both prevention and detection activities, and it can be performed manually or automatically through software tools that scan for vulnerable systems.

It looks at how people, processes, and technology all interact with one another from a security perspective.

A Unified Shield for Enterprise Security

Patch management and vulnerability management are two closely related security processes. While they differ in scope and approach, they are deeply interconnected.

While businesses might know about these dangers, most organizations still employ various security tools and products from different vendors, each having different interfaces.

Organizations need a unified platform that allows them to easily define and enforce consistent security policies across all applications and devices — while also providing real-time visibility into potential risks across the network.

Teams say that using one platform for patch and vulnerability management allows them to leverage their Security Operations Center (SOC) experts and other IT members.

A unified platform combines the best of both worlds:

  • Automation and customization.
  • Better coordination among teams, reducing the likelihood of overlooking crucial patches or vulnerabilities.
  • Reduced costs when other tools aren’t needed for patch and vulnerability management.

Cybersecurity is an ever-evolving challenge. A unified platform does more than just adjust to this changing landscape. It’s a bold move to reinforce your infrastructure with improved resilience and efficiency.

 

Find out how Syxsense can help you with a unified security and endpoint management platform. Schedule a demo below.

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Syxsense combines IT management, patch management, and security vulnerability scanning in one powerful solution. Get started today.

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Achieving HIPAA Compliance: Dynamic Endpoint and Patch Management

By Blog, Cybersecurity, Endpoint Security

When you work in a sprawling healthcare complex, where are you going throughout the day?

​​It’s not just about the hospital. It’s about the outpatient clinic, the physical therapy center, the nursing home, and all of the buildings that make up your healthcare system.

It’s also about tracking all of those devices as they move between them—and making sure they’re always safe. How do you make sure they’re being used and updated properly? How do you keep track of their maintenance, especially when they’re moving between departments and floors?

And when costs aren’t trickling down to security, how can teams safeguard Protected Health Information (PHI) while dealing with mainframe and legacy software?

Such are the realities that IT teams in healthcare have to contend with when it comes to protecting patient health data. You don’t just need confidence. You need live data and proof.

How Legacy, Mainframe, and Other Everyday Operations Put HIPAA Compliance at Risk

Healthcare systems can be on-premises, in the cloud, or spread across multiple clouds.

Whether applications are fully cloud-based or on-premises, protection continues to be complex. Plenty of healthcare providers still use mainframe and other legacy on-premises systems as the core of their record systems.

Transactions within these older systems travel externally through cloud applications and back as part of a transaction. Unbeknownst to many cloud system users, legacy transactional system connections are part of the workflow.

Healthcare organizations patch systems they believe are involved in PHI but miss other systems where privacy data flows.

It’s impossible to be aware of all the little habits and everyday operations that can introduce vulnerabilities (or tell them to come on in and wipe their feet on the “Welcome Home” mat.) While healthcare facilities are designed to keep patients safe, what do you do when your own employees are a threat?

Practices like:

  • Account sharing
  • Reluctance to implement two-factor authentication (2FA)
  • Fractured teams
  • Using pagers and fax machines
  • Preferring to use an outdated version of software
  • Using legacy systems that haven’t been updated in 20+ years
  • Applications running on Windows XP, 2000, and 98
  • Having no documentation/playbooks for incident response
  • Being stuck in a reactionary cycle

… All create security risks.

While a healthcare system or cloud may seem completely protected, vulnerabilities still exist, ready to be exploited due to these weaknesses.

What’s Worse: Badly Done or Not Patching at All? They Both Lead to Data Breaches

Is it a case of choosing the lesser evil? Badly done patching or no patching at all? Unfortunately, both paths lead to data breaches.

If you don’t update your software, you’re leaving yourself open to attack by hackers who could easily exploit holes in your system—holes that could’ve been fixed with a simple update.

A study by the Ponemon Institute found that 68% of data breaches occur because patch management is poorly executed.

Among companies that suffered a data breach:

  • 61% of respondents said their organizations were at a disadvantage in responding to vulnerabilities because they used manual patching processes.
  • 55% added that their dependence on manual processes for patch management had led to backlogs and errors. (The report recommends replacing manual processes with automated patching solutions.)
  • 57% said these breaches probably occurred due to a patch being available for a known vulnerability that had not been implemented.

So what can you do?

  1. Make sure that all of your devices are up-to-date with their latest patches.
  2. Check for third-party software patches.

The downside is this requires manually searching for and applying patches. Doing this manually eats up a ton of time and resources for IT teams, which diverts skill away from other crucial tasks (not that patching isn’t crucial.)

Organizations are exploring automated patching to simplify and expedite the process. Tasks that would normally take hours or days to complete happen in minutes or seconds—without having to expand your team. In today’s world of security, it’s all about working smarter, not harder.

But what does it look like in a cyber-threat landscape that’s constantly evolving?

Build Your Own Dynamic Endpoint Management That Covers Vulnerability Scans, Patching, and Compliance

There will never be a “silver bullet” solution for cybersecurity. Instead, a successful approach is one that uses multiple tactics in concert with one another—a symphony of security.

Syxsense Enterprise is one platform that lets you be proactive instead of reactive.

With built-in workflow automation, you can offload the most time-consuming and painful parts of your cybersecurity practices—the parts that keep you from achieving higher goals. Like protecting your PHI, saving time, and money, and ultimately focusing on what matters most: healing people.

We speak with overworked MSPs and teams every day, and so many of them say they need a lead time of mastery that’s only a few hours—not six months. (Patients and hackers aren’t waiting for six months.)

Need help with all of the above?

There’s a real-time security solution for healthcare. Schedule a demo with us today.

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Schedule Your Syxsense Demo

Syxsense combines IT management, patch management, and security vulnerability scanning in one powerful solution. Get started today.

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Syxsense Unified Security and Endpoint Management Products Win Multiple 2023 Cloud Computing Security Excellence Awards

By Awards, News, Press Release

Award-winning products allow businesses to rapidly identify and resolve endpoint risks

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Syxsense, a global leader in Unified Security and Endpoint Management (USEM) solutions, today announced that TMC, a global, integrated media company, has named Syxsense Enterprise and Syxsense Zero Trust as 2023 Cloud Computing Security Excellence Award winners.
“We are committed to helping organizations unify endpoint management and security. This comprehensive approach to vulnerability monitoring and endpoint management not only gives businesses the ability to identify attack surface risks, it provides access to automated remediation workflows and an easy-to-use zero trust evaluation engine that focuses on enforcing policies, resolving security concerns, and streamlining IT management,” said Ashley Leonard, Founder and CEO at Syxsense. “It’s an honor to see our efforts recognized with these Cloud Computing Security Excellence Awards. We are excited to continue supporting our customers through added functionality and the expansion of our global footprint.”

The Cloud Computing Security Excellence Award, presented by Cloud Computing magazine, recognizes companies in two distinct categories for most effectively leveraging cloud computing in their efforts to bring new, differentiated offerings to market. These categories are cloud-delivered security, for using the cloud as the delivery model, and cloud security, for securing cloud infrastructure and applications. Syxsense Enterprise and Syxsense Zero Trust are recognized for both categories.

Syxsense Enterprise is the world’s first cloud-based USEM solution, delivering real-time endpoint monitoring, vulnerability identification, and instant remediation for every device across an organization’s entire network environment. It combines Syxsense SecureManage, and Mobile Device Manager to deliver a completely unified platform that scans and manages all endpoints, resolves problems in real-time, and reduces the risks associated with system misconfigurations.

Syxsense Zero Trust is a module within Syxsense Enterprise enabling endpoint compliance with Zero Trust (ZT) policies. The first-of-its-kind solution is designed to serve as an organization’s “Trust Evaluation Engine” for endpoints. It provides visibility and control over network access policies and enables security teams to build access policies and remediation workflows to ensure ZT compliance.

“Recognizing leaders in the advancement of cloud computing, TMC and Cloud Computing Magazine are proud to announce Syxsense Enterprise and Syxsense Zero Trust as recipients of the Cloud Computing Security Excellence Award,” said Rich Tehrani, CEO, TMC. “Syxsense is being honored for their achievement in bringing innovation and excellence to this crucial market segment.”

To learn more about Syxsense visit us today: www.syxsense.com.

About Syxsense

Syxsense is a leading software vendor providing endpoint security and IT operations management solutions to Managed Service Providers (MSPs), enterprises, and government organizations. Its solutions provide real-time visibility and control over endpoint devices, networks, and cloud infrastructure, helping organizations to protect against cyber threats, improve IT operations, and reduce risk. Syxsense is the first Unified Security and Endpoint Management (USEM) platform that centralizes the three key elements of endpoint security management: security and patch vulnerability management, remediation, and compliance controlled by a powerful drag-and-drop workflow automation technology called Syxsense Cortex™. Syxsense is a single cloud-based platform supporting Windows, Linux, Mac, and mobile devices on-premises and in the cloud. For more information, visit www.syxsense.com.

About TMC

Through our news and solutions-focused editorial platforms, live events, webinars, and online advertising, TMC provides global buyers with valuable insights for making informed technology purchase decisions and successfully navigating markets.

Contacts

Syxsense Contact
Raymond Fenton
Voxus PR
rfenton@voxuspr.com

TMC Contact
Michelle Connolly
Senior Marketing Manager
203-852-6800, ext. 170
mconnolly@tmcnet.com

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Syxsense combines IT management, patch management, and security vulnerability scanning in one powerful solution. Get started today.

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Automation Is the Key to Improving Time-to-Remediate and Time-to-Patch

By Blog, Cybersecurity, Endpoint Security, Patch Management, Vulnerability Management

Cybercriminals are notorious for their swift actions. Once a zero-day exploit is discovered, they waste no time infecting numerous systems in the hours that follow. This malicious activity persists for weeks, and in some cases, even months, due to the sluggish response of many organizations in implementing necessary patches and taking remedial measures.

Responding to a zero-day exploit can be a laborious and time-consuming process, especially for organizations lacking automated systems. The response time spans from just a few hours to several weeks, depending on the complexity of the exploit and the efficiency of the remediation process employed by the organization. One has to consider the time required to identify, validate, and fix the vulnerability, plus the additional time needed to deploy the patch across all affected systems. In many instances, the longer the time-to-remediate or resolve (TTR) and time-to-patch, the more severe the potential consequences, underscoring the critical role of automation in cyber risk response.

Similarly, if cybercriminals unearth a weakness in the organizational defenses or manage to compromise a user account, they don’t waste time capitalizing on it. Some launch a major attack in seconds by unleashing ransomware or other malware. Others use that foothold to gain access to privileged accounts or mission-critical systems. They move rapidly and then quickly cover their tracks. Their goal is not a smash-and-grab raid. They want to learn the workings and finances of the organization unobserved while they determine the most lucrative and opportune way to profit from their efforts. When they strike, the only thing preventing devastation is the ability of the organization to respond effectively with the minimum of TTR.

Rapid Patching Minimizes Time-to-Remediate Emergencies

Many cybersecurity response emergencies can be traced back to failure to effectively and speedily patch. The correlation between cybersecurity emergencies and a failure to patch quickly is largely about the window of opportunity. Cybercriminals strive to exploit the vulnerability before the organization can patch it. This situation often leads to a lag time between the discovery of a flaw and its patching – a window that cybercriminals exploit. This is why automation is so crucial in reducing the time-to-patch.

Despite this reality, the majority of organizational breaches occur due to the exploitation of known vulnerabilities for which patches exist but were not implemented. The latest Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) sheds light on the fact that unpatched vulnerabilities, such as Log4j, were among the most severe incidents reported in 2022. The report emphasizes the criticality of promptly patching known vulnerabilities and swiftly addressing zero-day exploits and other attack vectors. In essence, organizations with poor time-to-patch and time-to-remediate (TTR) metrics expose themselves to greater risks.

How Can Enterprises Reduce Their Time-to-Patch and Time-to-Remediate?

Automation is the ultimate solution for reducing time-to-patch and TTR. With the sheer number of patches that require deployment across numerous endpoints scattered across various clouds, systems, and networks, manual patching simply cannot keep up. By automating the patching process, organizations can significantly minimize the gap between identification and remediation of vulnerabilities, thereby reducing the window of opportunity for cybercriminals to launch an attack. When patches are deployed rapidly and effectively, it lessens the occurrence and severity of cybersecurity emergencies.

Automation can help enterprises accomplish such things as:

  • Comprehensive scanning to detect all endpoints and devices
  • Rapid patch deployment
  • Patch and remediation workflow automation, ideally with no scripting required
  • Pre-checks of available system, network, and endpoints resources to ensure patches and remediations can be deployed
  • Testing of patches before full production deployment
  • Verification of patch installation

With these items addressed by automation, time-to-patch and TTR can be brought down to hours or days versus weeks, months, or years.

Syxsense Cortex: The Ultimate Scanning and Remediation Automation Tool

Syxsense Cortex simplifies complex IT and security processes via automation. It is a drag-and-drop visual editor that removes the need for scripting expertise. With an ever-growing library of pre-built workflows and templates, organizations can lower their IT and cyber risk as it pertains to vulnerabilities, reduce the burdens of tedious tasks for IT and security teams, and enable them to focus on critical business initiatives.

Syxsense Cortex enables users to combine logic, approvals, and actions to automate complex processes and bring an end to long patch and remediation timelines. Syxsense Cortex also makes it possible to deploy several software updates simultaneously and effortlessly. Its script-free capability minimizes repetitive manual work and reduces the time needed to complete complex tasks. It streamlines the management and remediation of security issues enabling them to be detected much sooner. Further benefits include the visualization of workflows and processes ranging from inventory to scans, patch prioritization and supersedence, patch verification, detection and remediation of vulnerabilities, and a variety of other IT management and security actions.

Never again wonder about your true security and management posture. Syxsense can help you realize the benefits of automation while providing real-time monitoring and alerting that will keep you in the know on potential threats as well as any changes that occur in your environment. And then leverage Syxsense Cortex to reduce your risks automatically.

See how quickly you can improve your endpoint and security posture with Syxsense. Schedule a custom demo below.

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Syxsense combines IT management, patch management, and security vulnerability scanning in one powerful solution. Get started today.

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Syxsense Expands Partnership with Climb Channel Solutions to Scale Global Access to Unified Security and Endpoint Management (USEM) Solutions

By News, Press Release

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Syxsense, a global leader in unified security and endpoint management (USEM) solutions, today announced an expanded global strategic channel partnership with Climb Channel Solutions, an international speciality technology distributor, to provide USEM solutions worldwide. The partnership will further drive efficient and sustainable growth among U.K.-based enterprises and expand the reach of Syxsense’s USEM solutions globally.

“We’re excited to be expanding our channel program in the UK and around the globe with Climb Channel Solutions’ expertise and extensive network,” said Jose Rangel, Vice President of Global Channels at Syxsense. “Climb Channel Solutions will help us sustain and scale the success we’ve seen this fiscal year in providing innovative, unified security and endpoint management solutions to our growing list of clients.”

Syxsense’s portfolio will enable Climb’s customers to manage and secure every endpoint through a single console with powerful features like Zero Trust device attestation, mobile device management, and more. Driven by Cortex, Syxsense’s no-code, drag-and-drop visual designer, IT and security administrators can quickly build complex automated workflows and sequences for software deployment, patch management, vulnerability scanning and remediation, and compliance reporting. Syxsense will provide support through sales, technical training, and co-marketing throughout the entire sales lifecycle.

“Syxsense is a leading software vendor providing endpoint security and IT operations management solutions to Managed Service Providers (MSPs), enterprises, and government organisations,” said Dale Foster, CEO of Climb Channel Solutions. “As cyber threats continue to escalate in sophistication and frequency, it is critical that we not only provide the right tools and products, but also the crucial training required to meet the ever-growing cybersecurity challenges businesses experience. We’re excited to achieve that vision through this new partnership with Syxsense.”

Learn more about Syxsense Partner Program: https://www.syxsense.com/partner-program

About Syxsense

Syxsense is a leading software vendor providing endpoint security and IT operations management solutions to Managed Service Providers (MSPs), enterprises, and government organizations. Its solutions provide real-time visibility and control over endpoint devices, networks, and cloud infrastructure, helping organizations to protect against cyber threats, improve IT operations, and reduce risk. Syxsense is the first Unified Security and Endpoint Management (USEM) platform that centralizes the three key elements of endpoint security management: security and patch vulnerability management, remediation, and compliance controlled by a powerful drag-and-drop workflow automation technology called Syxsense Cortex™. Syxsense is a single cloud-based platform supporting Windows, Linux, Mac, and mobile devices on-premises and in the cloud. For more information, visit www.syxsense.com.

About Climb Channel Solutions and Climb Global Solutions

Climb Channel Solutions is a global specialty IT distributor for emerging technology vendors with solutions for Security, Data Management, Connectivity, Storage & HCI, Virtualization & Cloud and Software & ALM. Climb provides vendors access to thousands of VARs, MSPs, CSPs and other resellers. Climb is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Climb Global Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLIMB).

Contacts

PR Contact
Raymond Fenton
Voxus PR
rfenton@voxuspr.com

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Syxsense combines IT management, patch management, and security vulnerability scanning in one powerful solution. Get started today.

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Patients Becoming More Affected By Healthcare Data Breaches

By Blog, Cybersecurity, Healthcare Industry

Things going through your head after your workplace was hit by a breach: 

How much Protected Health Information was accessed? Will I have to pay HIPAA penalties? How do I tell my patients? How many of my patients are affected by this data breach? What’s required of me right now, legally?

You weren’t prepared for this level of uncertainty. Even though there’s been a decrease in healthcare breaches, a concerning trend has emerged: a higher number of patients are affected per breach. It’s a bittersweet situation. 

Doctors are locked out of patient files and resort to handwritten notes. Equally challenging, is letting patients know they were affected by the breach. How do you give them a transparent and thoughtful approach to protecting their privacy and well-being? 

Identity theft is a serious crime, and it’s not the only crime committed by using someone else’s Protected Health Information (PHI). Hackers also use PHI to secure benefits, prescriptions, and insurance coverage.

You need to be ready to play offense and defense when it comes to the protection of your patient’s privacy. Security is not a static concept. It’s an ever-evolving strategy that needs preparation and response plans set in place.

The medical industry has been evolving for decades. Reluctancy costs healthcare more than just money.

It’s time for your security and playbooks to evolve, too.

Two indicators that more patients are targeted by cyber attacks

According to the Healthcare Data Breach Report:

Attacks don’t need to be the most sophisticated or a zero-day in order to succeed. 

Hackers are working to find and capitalize on out-of-date security practices in healthcare. And when one attack catches the attention of the security community, it’s even easier to blend into the background and exploit other avenues.

The best way to avoid such an attack is to implement a layered defense system, including physical security measures like employee training on how to identify and avoid phishing scams, social engineering attacks, and other types of threats.

Here’s what hackers don’t want you to know about patching

Unpatched systems and misconfigurations are leaving your PHI vulnerable to attack, leading to theft, encryption, patient impersonation, and even financial fraud.

Hackers want you to be slow to adapt. Old security practices and reluctance builds their ladder inside. They count on your inaction, because scheduling downtime for maintenance is overwhelming, or patching third-party tools is too much.

And if you don’t have the capacity for after-hours…

Will you have the capacity and hours when systems are down?

When should you secure your most important endpoints?

Do you know how many known vulnerabilities are out there? These bugs aren’t from obscure systems. Hundreds of vulnerabilities come from the most popular vendors with Google, followed by Microsoft, Adobe, IBM, Oracle, Jenkins, Apple, Tenda, Huawaie, Cisco, Linux, Siemens, Qualcomm, Intel, Apache, TotoLink, SAP, Dell, Bentley, and Samsung. 

Healthcare providers around the world rely on software and hardware from these vendors. With so many ways to get in, how long can your endpoints wait? 

You need a new way to protect patient data that’s more than just an extension of what you’ve always done before. 

A paradigm shift in how you find and prioritize the patches that keep criminals from exploiting out-of-date applications.

Syxsense Enterprise is cloud-based security with real-time monitoring and instant remediation for every single endpoint in your healthcare environment. The future of patching any device looks like flexible, staggered scheduling that causes as little disruption as possible.

Syxsense is more than just patch management—it’s a suite of security that Universal, Belkin, PBS, Netgear, IBM, Best Western, and others rely on. They knew that securing their most important endpoints was more important than ever, and they knew they couldn’t do it alone.

Do you have any questions about your patch and compliance requirements? We’re happy to talk about how you can stay up to date. Schedule a time to talk with us today

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How to Shrink Your Attack Surface With Patching and Automated Remediation

By Blog, Cybersecurity, Patch Management

“What is my attack surface?”

Consider all of your internet-accessible software, hardware, and cloud assets. It’s all the points of vulnerability within a system that hackers can exploit. The wider the surface—the more opportunity for hackers to exploit. 

Spotting and eliminating these vulnerabilities toughen access for unauthorized parties. 

If you think you have a small attack surface, consider that your attack surface grows organically.

It expands through third-party software, bad passwords, disabled firewalls, phishing campaigns, delayed patching, human errors, legacy assets, and maybe other ways you don’t know about.

Hackers are targeting a broad range of industries: financial and banking institutions, manufacturing, schools and universities, tech companies, healthcare providers, and even government agencies. They’re not only targeting the big names—they’re also going after smaller businesses. 

As online theft and hacking have evolved, so have your defense strategies. 

When you manage your attack surface with the right security controls in place—you shrink it—along with the likelihood of facing beaches by hackers.

Your security is not a one-time event. It’s an ongoing process that includes consistent patching and vulnerability remediation procedures. 

What can you do to patch and scan while protecting your time, eliminating manual processes, and working on the more challenging parts of security?

Below are ways to handle patching and scanning that save time, remove manual processes, and free you to take on the more exciting intricacies of security and business.

The Best Way to Customize My Patch Deployment

Patching is the process of upgrading software so that it can be used safely on a computer system. It fixes flaws or improves functionality. It’s like applying a band-aid to a wound, covering the vulnerabilities in your software systems that hackers could potentially exploit. 

Like an annual flu shot that adapts to new virus strains, patching updates your software to defend against the latest threats.

Ever wonder when the best time is to schedule the next patch?

You need to protect employee productivity, downtime, and costs. 

It’s why so many teams rely on automation to schedule deployments in recurring maintenance windows. 

When done consistently, patching reduces your attack surface. Up-to-date software locks the door against threats. Automation continually works in the background to prioritize and patch the most critical vulnerabilities, all while monitoring any changes in your attack surface.

Is Self-Aware Security Remediation the Future?

What is your weakest link?

How do you fix them… and quickly?

Vulnerability scanning is a proactive practice—and not one that’s easy to do manually, either. Your vulnerabilities are spread across software, systems, networks, and devices.

With so many devices (and probably not enough time), you need a way to regularly scan for security gaps, misconfigurations, patch updates, and other exploitable points across your entire attack surface. 

What devices do I need to target?

How do I figure out what to do with them?

When do I do it?

How often?

Automated remediation takes care of it for you through customized access policies and remediation workflows.

Security teams have been looking to offload manual processes to work on more challenging and exciting parts of security, but they don’t want to compromise the quality of protection.

When live data and monitoring communicate and react to behavioral and state changes on your endpoints, automation can remediate vulnerabilities as they’re discovered. Thousands of devices can now self-heal and self-manage, leading to fewer avenues of invasion, and less risk of successful attacks.

Here’s What to Expect With Personalized Automation

Patching and remediation are just one aspect of a comprehensive security strategy. A multi-layered approach includes a little bit of everything: training your staff, regular audits, and strong access controls.

The best way to keep your organization secure is to understand the state of your network at all times. But you can’t be everywhere, all the time. 

Automated patch and vulnerability management tools handle updating and addressing weaknesses, reducing the time and effort required by teams to “DIY.” It’s everywhere, all the time, for you.

​​The security industry is moving toward a more personal, automated approach to cybersecurity. Personalized automation lets you focus on strategy, not administration. It’s not just about making your work easier. It’s about giving you more time to do what matters most: solving problems, protecting people, and making the world a better place.

It’s never been easier to develop and manage automated workflows for patching, vulnerability scanning, endpoint management, and remediation to get more done and safeguard your valuable assets. Schedule a demo below to find out how.

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