Framework: The Center for Internet Security (CIS) Top 18 Controls

Control 7—Continuous Vulnerability Management—recognizes that no system remains secure indefinitely. Software evolves, new exploits emerge, and configurations drift over time. This control establishes the need for ongoing assessment, remediation, and verification to identify and correct vulnerabilities before attackers can exploit them. Unlike one-time scans or periodic audits, continuous vulnerability management operates as an unending cycle of discovery, prioritization, and repair. It draws from threat intelligence feeds, vendor advisories, and vulnerability databases to stay ahead of emerging risks. Effective programs rely on automation to scan networks, applications, and endpoints regularly, ensuring that no new or forgotten system remains unchecked. The objective is not to achieve perfection but to minimize the “window of exposure”—the time between vulnerability discovery and mitigation—through disciplined, repeatable processes.

Implementing continuous vulnerability management requires coordination between IT operations, security, and change management. Vulnerability scanners must be integrated with patch management and ticketing systems to streamline remediation workflows. Each detected issue should be assigned a severity score based on both technical impact and exploit likelihood, guiding teams to fix the most critical flaws first. Authentication-based scans provide deeper insight than simple external probes, validating configurations and patch levels accurately. Metrics such as mean time to remediate and scan coverage rates help measure program effectiveness. Mature organizations also perform trend analysis to identify recurring weaknesses in system configurations or patching practices. Through automation, analytics, and governance, continuous vulnerability management transforms reactive firefighting into proactive defense—closing the loop between detection and correction in an ever-changing threat landscape.
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