Attackers are exploiting flaws in hours, not weeks. The real challenge for defenders isn’t finding vulnerabilities but closing the gap between detection and remediation.
The traditional model of vulnerability management—scan, wait, patch—was built for a world that no longer exists. Today’s adversaries move at machine speed, automating reconnaissance and exploiting exposures within hours of disclosure. The real challenge for defenders isn’t finding vulnerabilities but fixing them fast. Most organizations detect thousands of vulnerabilities every month but only a fraction are remediated before attackers exploit them.
Industry experts emphasize the need for a shift to preemptive exposure management. Roi Cohen, co-founder and CEO of Vicarius, describes it as a strategy designed to anticipate and neutralize threats before they become weaponized, through continuous visibility, contextual scoring, and automation that shrinks remediation timelines from weeks to minutes. Michelle Abraham, research director at IDC, highlights that many organizations still lack full visibility of their IT assets which is critical for prioritization and timely remediation.
Flat severity scores like CVSS don’t provide enough insight about whether vulnerabilities are actively exploited or their impact on critical systems. Experts stress the importance of focusing on context—integrating exploit intelligence, asset criticality, and business impact—to discern meaningful risk. However, many organizations do not yet utilize exposure prioritization effectively, and operations between security and IT often operate in silos, causing dangerous delays.
Artificial intelligence presents both challenges and opportunities in cybersecurity. Attackers leverage AI to scale phishing campaigns, mutate malware, and identify weaknesses rapidly. Conversely, defenders can employ AI to automate detection, prioritize threats intelligently, and generate remediation playbooks at machine speed. Roi Cohen insists that AI-powered, autonomous, contextual, and immediate remediation is essential. Yet, skeptics like Richard Stiennon caution that technology alone cannot overcome organizational inertia, regardless of AI innovations.
Despite the advantages of automation, many organizations remain cautious due to fears of mistimed patches causing downtime in critical systems. Experts agree automation should be introduced gradually like onboarding a new team member—starting with low-risk actions, instituting guardrails, and building transparency. As automated workflows demonstrate consistency and safety, trust grows. Lawrence Pingree of Dispersive advocates for an even more preemptive stance focused on prevention, warning that detection and response strategies are currently insufficient.
Regulatory frameworks such as NIST CSF 2.0 and ISO 27001 increasingly stress the importance of how quickly vulnerabilities are remediated, shifting focus from mere logging to demonstrating effective risk reduction with evidence. Compliance now acts as a stopwatch measuring the speed and efficacy of remediation efforts.
Experts advise a unified approach to security workflows to avoid silos between detection, prioritization, and remediation. They recommend automating obvious fixes while building guardrails to foster trust in automation. Prioritization should be based on context, including exploitability, asset value, and business impact. Additionally, organizations must protect the 'patch gap' with runtime controls and compensating defenses. Ultimately, security teams need to shorten the gap between detecting vulnerabilities and mitigating them, adopting a preemptive strategy that blends human judgment with automation.
Read more at the original article.