What is the primary goal of vulnerability management?

The primary goal of vulnerability management is to identify, evaluate, and mitigate risks associated with vulnerabilities in systems and applications. This process involves regularly scanning for potential weaknesses, assessing their potential impact and likelihood of exploitation, and implementing strategies to reduce or eliminate these risks.

By focusing on identifying and evaluating vulnerabilities, organizations can prioritize their remediation efforts based on the severity of the risks and the criticality of the assets involved. Mitigation may involve applying patches, changing configurations, or implementing security controls to lower the risk to acceptable levels. This proactive and systematic approach helps organizations safeguard their information assets and maintain a robust security posture.

While eliminating all security risks may seem ideal, it is practically unattainable, as new vulnerabilities will continually emerge. Enforcing user authentication is a crucial part of overall security but is only one aspect of the broader vulnerability management process. Similarly, developing software with fewer bugs is important for reducing vulnerabilities but does not encompass the comprehensive approach required for effective vulnerability management.