Patching computers and applications protects data entrusted to VUMC
By Kevin Hill, IT Manager, Security Operations and Services
When you leave your house to take a trip to the store, do you lock your front door? Or if the roof on your house had a hole in it, would you want to fix it? Making sure your house is secure or preventing further damage is the reason why you take action. The same logic applies to updating and protecting your computers and devices, and the applications you use on them. Performing something called “patching” protects applications and computers from defects you can anticipate, and even from damage or attacks you might not.
What is Patching?
When you get a Windows Update on your computer and install it – you are not only updating your operating systems, you are also patching!
The process of patching applies code to applications or computers to improve them. These improvements can add useful new features or, like fixing a hole in your roof, can “patch” problems that have been identified. The code can be delivered automatically via a “push” by your IT professionals or your software companies or downloaded and installed manually.
Patches are commonly applied to a computer’s operating systems (Linux or Windows), and also to applications such as web browsers (Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox), or productivity suites like Microsoft Office.
Why Should We Patch?
Vanderbilt University Medical Center receives approximately 2 million attack attempts every day. Patching regularly is one of many ways we are “locking our doors” and securing applications and systems from outside attackers.
According to a 2020 report from IBM and the Ponemon Institute, the average cost of a data breach to a Healthcare-based business is 7.13 million dollars. Patching ensures that we are all doing everything we can to prevent unnecessary attacks and protecting the data entrusted to VUMC.
See the VUMC patching schedule here.
What if I use a Mac?
In November of 2020, Apple released a new operating system. In February 2021, a piece of malicious software called “Silver Sparrow” was discovered in the new system, which Apple identified and deployed updates to stop. Patching is not just limited to Windows or Linux computers. Ensure that you patch your Apple macOS computers regularly too.