RE: Patching

["Tran, John" <John.Tran () unisys com>]

I agree with Jason.  First there has to be a reason to patch.  You should
not just go ahead and patch a machine without doing some good analysis.

-----Original Message-----
From: Gunnoe, Jason [mailto:Jason.Gunnoe () thomson com]
Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2003 9:54 AM
To: Meritt James; security-basics () securityfocus com
Subject: RE: Patching


Mitigation of risk is the key here.  Don't patch without reason.

-----Original Message-----
From: Meritt James [mailto:meritt_james () bah com] 
Sent: Monday, October 20, 2003 4:38 PM
To: security-basics () securityfocus com
Subject: Re: Patching

On Mon, Oct 20, 2003 at 10:12:29AM +0200, Alessandro Bottonelli wrote:
> A thought has been crossing my mind for a long time, I'd like to
confront it 
> with the list.
>
> In the "old days" a patch and/or fix was defined as "something that
closes a 
> known hole and opens ten unknown holes" :-) Yet, literature and common

> practices keep saying we should maintain our systems and network
appliances 
> up to date with the last patches / software releases.
>
> WHY should I feel safer that way? How can I tell Rev. 1.3 is any
better 
> (security-wise) than Rev. 1.2 ? Is the cost (financial and others) of
change 
> management worth it? If so, how can I measure such worthness?
> -- 
> Alessandro Bottonelli

A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. (10,000 -1) is
less than 10,000.  "Safer" is not "safe".

As long as you are thinking, include that in your "why" considerations.

-- 
James W. Meritt CISSP, CISA
Booz | Allen | Hamilton
phone: (410) 684-6566

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