Okuzeka
Cybersecurity vocabulary · Vulnerabilities and Patching

Patch management

Meaning in cybersecurity, with examples

nounCommon term

In cybersecurity, patch management means: The ongoing process of finding, testing, approving and installing software updates across all systems, and tracking which ones are still missing.

In Turkish: yama yönetimi

How it is used

Usually owned by IT operations but measured by security through patch compliance rates, patch SLAs (for example 'critical patches within 14 days') and exceptions for systems that cannot be patched. Tools such as Microsoft Intune or WSUS support the process.

Example sentences

  1. Our patch management process requires critical patches to be installed within 14 days.

  2. The audit found weak patch management on the factory systems.

Common collocations

  • patch management process
  • patch compliance
  • patch cycle
  • patch SLA
  • patchA small update released by a vendor to fix a bug or close a security vulnerability in software, firmware or an operating system.
  • vulnerability scanAn automated check of systems, networks or applications that looks for known weaknesses, missing patches and insecure settings and lists them in a report.
  • remediationThe work of fixing a security problem at its source, such as applying a patch, changing a configuration or rewriting vulnerable code.
  • complianceThe state of following the laws, regulations, standards and internal policies that apply to an organisation, and being able to prove it.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Vulnerabilities and Patching

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: