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Q&A Blog Post #3

Vulnerability Management Trends & Innovations to Watch in 2025

This is the 3rd part of a blog post series.

Part 2 of this blog post series discussed how organizations can close security gaps by focusing on vulnerabilities that have real-world impact, identifying often-overlooked gaps in their security strategies.

Regulatory Compliance and Industry Standards

How are new regulations and standards impacting the field of vulnerability management, particularly in highly regulated industries? 

Micki Boland - image

For enterprises in highly regulated sectors with rigid standard requirements, vulnerability management with continuous scanning, identification, and remediation is not just an option.

In addition to meeting regulatory and compliance audits, many organizations are now requiring Software Bill of Material (SBOM) for all software it is utilizing, which extends to cloud and cloud services, and how the organization is managing vulnerabilities, dependencies, and software and security bugs in open source software and third party code libraries in use within the organization and in software applications provided to business partners and customers. 


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Reporting to regulators the vulnerabilities within a given organization is becoming more commonplace, placing more demand on timely and thorough remediation. 


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New regulations and standards are significantly impacting vulnerability management, especially in highly regulated industries like healthcare and defense. These regulations, including HIPAA, NIST, DFARS, and CMMC, are placing increased emphasis on proactive vulnerability identification, risk-based prioritization, and timely remediation.

Organizations are now required to implement more robust vulnerability management processes, conduct regular assessments, and demonstrate compliance through detailed documentation.  

This regulatory landscape is driving the adoption of advanced technologies like AI and machine learning for more accurate threat detection and automated vulnerability management.  

The focus has shifted from simply identifying vulnerabilities to prioritizing them based on their potential real-world impact and aligning with specific industry compliance requirements. As a result, vulnerability management has become a critical component of overall cybersecurity strategy, directly tied to regulatory compliance, risk mitigation, and maintaining business continuity in these sectors. 


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New regulations and standards significantly influence vulnerability management, especially in highly regulated industries. Frameworks like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) mandate continuous risk monitoring and proactive security measures.  

These requirements compel organizations to adopt more rigorous vulnerability management practices to ensure compliance and protect sensitive data.

In response, vulnerability management tools are evolving to offer tailored capabilities that align with sector-specific guidance. For instance, the healthcare and finance sectors require stricter compliance measures, prompting the development of solutions that address their unique security needs.

Additionally, the automation of compliance reporting is becoming more prevalent. Modern vulnerability management platforms now include pre-configured templates designed for audit readiness, streamlining the reporting process and reducing the administrative burden on organizations. 


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Evolving regulations are transforming vulnerability management by increasing accountability and actively involving stakeholders in security processes.

Organizations must now meet higher standards for data protection, shifting from periodic assessments to continuous monitoring of controls. 

Compliance requires the ability to monitor and demonstrate adherence at any time, supported by documented justifications for gaps, approved security exceptions, and evidence of regular security assessments and remediation efforts.

Stakeholders, including senior management, are becoming integral to processes such as risk assessments and incident management. This makes it critical to simplify workflows and provide real-time access to vulnerability and risk data. 

Compliance is no longer just a legal requirement but a key factor in maintaining customer trust and avoiding substantial penalties. 


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Regulation and standards are gradually increasing the bar and effectively demand the following: 

  • Automated, Continuous Vulnerability Assessment - Industry standards and regulations increasingly mandate the use of automated security tools for vulnerability management, explicitly discouraging reliance on manual reviews.  

    For instance, the PCI DSS v4.0 and DORA Draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) require organizations to perform vulnerability scans using automated tools.  

  • Trust but Verify. The NIS 2 Directive, DORA and others clearly state that organizations are solely responsible for the security of their information systems, whether managed internally or if managed by a service provider.
     
    And so, I think we shall see more tools and procedures put in place to audit the MSP or for the MSP to provide proof – beyond contractual agreements. 

Metrics and Measurement of Success

What metrics should organizations use to evaluate the effectiveness of their exposure management programs?

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Effective risk management (ERM) and risk scoring is powerful in helping organizations determine which vulnerabilities, weaknesses, and misconfigurations are the ones creating the highest risk for the business.  

This is not trivial. If I can determine that my applications are vulnerable due to a known vulnerable container image in use, and it represents 50% of total risk to my organization, then I will focus immediate remediation efforts.  

I can get a clean container image and redeploy my applications, immediately reducing risk.  

In a realm where there are potentially tens of thousands of vulnerabilities identified by vulnerability management programs, effective risk management provides the organization with a much needed risk mitigation strategy.  

First, focus efforts on fixing and remediating those vulnerabilities representing the highest aggregate risk to the organization – those that will provide the highest payoff in terms of risk reduction to the organization.  

ERM helps the organization prioritize its risk mitigation strategy, then quickly identify and take tactical measures and actions to rapidly reduce that risk and exposure to the organization. 

There are some risks that are so lethal, these need to be mitigated as quickly as identified.  
This is why in public and hybrid cloud environments, organizations need continuous compliance assessment: this is required to help maintain GRC and legal required compliance, as well as automate fixes where it makes sense, with goal to eliminate exposure windows as quickly as possible, as soon as identified, and without waiting for human intervention.   

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The KPIs to measure success will differ among organizations; each needs to define its metrics and targets based on its unique risk exposure, security maturity, and business priorities.  

This is equally true within specific organizational business units. For example, there may be a need to limit critical (i.e., exploitable) vulnerabilities against specific SLAs, which may differ depending upon the functionality and importance of a given asset.  


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The importance of metrics should not only measure vulnerability detection but also drive remediation efforts and risk reduction. Key metrics we recommend include:  

  • Scan coverage and asset inventory to ensure comprehensive visibility across your environment.
  • Time-based metrics, such as average time to action and mean time to remediation are crucial for assessing your team's responsiveness and efficiency.
  • I’d also strongly advocate for risk-based metrics like total risk remediated and risk scores, which help prioritize efforts on the most critical vulnerabilities. 
  • Additionally, I’d encourage organizations to track the rate of vulnerability recurrence and average vulnerability age, as these metrics can uncover systemic issues in patch management processes.
  • The distinction between internal and external exposure is another vital metric, allowing for targeted risk mitigation strategies. 

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Several key metrics should be considered when evaluating the effectiveness of an exposure management program. By regularly monitoring these metrics, organizations can gain valuable insights into their programs' performance and identify areas for improvement.  

Mean Time to Remediation (MTTR) measures the average duration taken to resolve identified vulnerabilities, indicating the efficiency of the remediation process.  

Exploitability Rates assess the percentage of vulnerabilities with active exploits in the wild, helping prioritize remediation efforts based on real-world threat landscapes.  

Coverage Metrics evaluate the proportion of assets that have been scanned and remediated, ensuring comprehensive vulnerability assessments across the organization's infrastructure.   

Attack Surface Reduction involves tracking changes in publicly exposed services to monitor and minimize potential entry points for attackers.   

Compliance scores measure alignment with regulatory and internal standards, ensuring that the organization's security posture meets required compliance benchmarks.  


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Organizations should monitor the following metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of their exposure management programs:  

  1. Mean Time to Remediate (MTTR): The average time taken to remediate vulnerabilities after detection. This metric highlights efficiency and responsiveness in mitigating threats.

  2. Asset Coverage: The percentage of assets—such as endpoints, servers, applications, and cloud environments—covered by the vulnerability management program. High coverage ensures visibility across all potential attack surfaces.  

  3. Adherence to SLAs: The proportion of vulnerabilities remediated within the agreed-upon SLA timelines. This metric reflects the organization’s ability to meet remediation commitments effectively.  

  4. Trends in Incoming Vulnerabilities: An analysis of the volume and types of vulnerabilities identified over time, providing insights into whether the organization’s risk exposure is increasing or decreasing.  

  5. Remediation Coverage: The percentage of identified vulnerabilities that have been remediated, segmented by severity (e.g., critical, high, medium). This demonstrates the program’s effectiveness in reducing risks.  

  6. Risk Reduction Over Time: The overall reduction in risk scores achieved through remediation efforts. This metric offers a comprehensive view of the program's impact on organizational risk.  

  7. Unscanned Assets Rate: The percentage of assets excluded from scanning or vulnerability management processes, helping to identify and address coverage gaps.

  8. Exposure Metrics by Attack Surface: Detailed metrics for various attack surfaces, including IoT, SaaS, cloud, and on-premises environments, to pinpoint areas with the highest risk exposure.

  9. Business Impact Metrics: The number of vulnerabilities exploited, or incidents caused by vulnerabilities. This metric evaluates the tangible impact of exposure management efforts on preventing breaches.

  10. Remediation Effort Distribution: An analysis of remediation activities by team or department, identifying bottlenecks and areas requiring additional resources or training. 

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When evaluating metrics, organizations should consider the following: 

  • Weighted Asset Coverage Rate: Percentage of assets scanned and monitored while factoring in the asset criticality or sensitivity

  • Time to Detect (TTD): Speed of vulnerability identification 
    Risk-Based Prioritization Rate: Focus on vulnerabilities with the highest risk

  • Business Impact Alignment: Prioritize based on critical asset risk
    Mean Time to Remediate (MTTR): Time to fix vulnerabilities

  • Remediation Coverage: Percent of critical vulnerabilities resolved 
    False Positive Rate: Minimize unnecessary alerts

  • Incident Frequency: Fewer incidents from known vulnerabilities 

Future Directions and Challenges

Looking ahead, what are the emerging threats or technologies you think will have the most significant impact on exposure management in the next decade? 

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Looking forward with a bit of “theoretical telescope”, I think we will see automated purple teaming, with 3D vector graphics providing human with highly visible attack path graphing in real time of sophisticated, multi-vector, multiple phased attacks.   

We will also see the introduction of swarm intelligence with swarm bots identifying attacks in progress, and helper bots deploying to provide real time response and remediation.   

We are already combining AI based Threat Intelligence, combined with external reconnaissance capabilities, and virtual HumanINT.   

The idea of moving target defense and self-defending, self-healing networks is indeed coming. 

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Understanding the attack surface is fundamental and non-negotiable, but the most important and impactful aspect of this visibility is what you then do with it.  

The ability to act on attack surface visibility comes through enriching telemetry with better context to support prioritization and provide guidance/clarity to teams looking to make meaningful progress in reducing operational risk.   

One of the most interesting emerging trends in this regard is the intersection of exposure management platforms and continuous validation and security controls assessment. 

As organizations look to their security platform providers to provide more context and better insights, layering in continuous and automated exposure validation capabilities and enabling teams to proactively test and validate the findings they’re receiving from their toolsets will have a massive impact on program efficiency and overall risk reduction. 


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Looking ahead to the next decade, several emerging threats and technologies are poised to significantly impact exposure management.  

Quantum computing poses a major challenge, potentially rendering current encryption methods obsolete and requiring organizations to adapt their security measures.  

AI-powered attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated, necessitating more advanced defense mechanisms. The exploitation of biometric data and the rise of deepfake technology introduce new risks that organizations must address. 

Additionally, the proliferation of 5G networks and IoT devices will expand attack surfaces, requiring more comprehensive exposure management strategies.  

The growing skills shortage in cybersecurity will likely exacerbate these challenges, making it crucial for organizations to invest in training and automation. 

Maor Kuriel - SentinelOne - Image

In the coming decade, several emerging threats and technologies are poised to impact exposure management significantly.  

AI-driven attacks are expected to become more prevalent, with adversaries leveraging artificial intelligence to identify and exploit vulnerabilities more rapidly. Despite these challenges, AI also offers potent tools for cyber defenders.  

By automating vulnerability identification, enrichment, and remediation, AI can address the scaling issues inherent in traditional vulnerability management programs. 

The advancement of Quantum Computing presents potential risks, as it may render current cryptographic methods obsolete, necessitating the development of new security protocols.  

Additionally, the proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) Devices expands the attack surface, introducing numerous entry points for potential exploitation. 


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Looking ahead, emerging threats and technologies are set to reshape exposure management in the coming decade:  

  • Expanding Attack Surfaces: The rapid proliferation of IoT devices, evolving SaaS configurations, and the growing integration of AI into business processes are driving an increasingly dynamic attack surface. These technologies introduce new vulnerabilities and complexities, demanding continuous monitoring and adaptive protection strategies. 

  • Cloud Security Complexities: The widespread adoption of cloud computing, particularly in multi-cloud and hybrid environments, has heightened the challenges of maintaining consistent security policies, visibility, and control across diverse infrastructures.
     
  • Evolving Regulatory Landscape: As regulations become more stringent, organizations must adopt flexible and proactive security strategies to ensure compliance. This includes the capability to demonstrate real-time adherence to standards, justify gaps, and manage exceptions with thorough documentation and oversight.  

  • Accelerating Threat Landscape: Attackers are leveraging advancements in automation, AI, and collaborative tools to reduce the time to exploitation. This escalation places increasing pressure on defenders to respond quickly and effectively, underscoring the need for real-time threat detection, rapid remediation, and efficient risk management. 

As these trends converge, organizations that prioritize continuous exposure management, embrace intelligent automation, and foster cross-functional collaboration will be best positioned to navigate the evolving threat landscape and maintain robust security postures. 

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With the rise in geopolitical tensions and cyber warfare associated with global conflicts, I believe we will be experiencing far more sophisticated attacks that have the following characteristics: 

  • Hackers “playing the long game”

  • Perimeter breach and compromise of core IT infrastructure, e.g. storage and backup systems.
     
    The attack on UnitedHealth stands out as the most significant example of 2024, where the organization's backups were compromised, allowing the attackers to block any recovery path from the initial attack. 

  • Potentially through insider threats