Of the nearly 165,000 known CVEs, which ones are putting your company at risk?

There are almost 165,000 known CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) listed in the NIST Database. In October of 2020, the NSA published a list of the 25 CVEs most likely to be exploited by Nation-State attackers in China; Checkpoint software found over 3 million attempts to penetrate networks or steal files using these known vulnerabilities. But […]

There are almost 165,000 known CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) listed in the NIST Database. In October of 2020, the NSA published a list of the 25 CVEs most likely to be exploited by Nation-State attackers in China; Checkpoint software found over 3 million attempts to penetrate networks or steal files using these known vulnerabilities. But I don’t think I need statistics to scare anyone into thinking that CVE management is critical to security -- the problem is how can you stay on top of the onslaught? The volume of alerts combined with network complexity makes it nearly impossible to sort through which pose a significant risk to the enterprise and which are not applicable to your company’s networking estate.

All too often, the process of remediating alerts — locating devices, applying the patches, and implementing other fixes — gets pushed to the back burner because security teams are pulled away to focus on seemingly more pressing matters (what’s on fire at the moment). This creates an ideal situation for malicious actors constantly on the hunt for any security gap they can exploit.

Forward Networks has a way for security and network engineers to manage and prioritize CVE alerts easily, effectively, and confidently. Our Forward Enterprise platform now features operating systems (OS) vulnerability mitigation functionality. In one dashboard, security operations teams can see, at a glance, all the key details they need to know about the latest CVE alerts — from the severity level of the alert to how many and which devices in your network are impacted by it.

The OS vulnerability mitigation functionality is informed by the NIST National Vulnerability Database and the device and configuration data we collect through our platform from your enterprise network. With access to up-to-date, actionable vulnerability insights automatically curated within Forward Enterprise, your security and network teams can act fast to prioritize and fix severe vulnerabilities. They’ll also know for sure which fixes they can set aside temporarily without creating unnecessary risk for the business.

Monitoring and prioritizing CVE alerts requires vigilance — but it shouldn’t be a full-time job for highly skilled (and expensive) operations professionals. See our use case to learn more about the CVE vulnerability mitigation functionality that’s now available in the Forward Enterprise platform.

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Fabrizio Maccioni

Fabrizio Maccioni is the Director of Technical Marketing at Forward Networks. Fabrizio focuses on Network Device Programmability, Automation, and Application Hosting.