Microsoft Enhances Network Security Through Patching Innovations
In today’s digital landscape, robust network security is paramount, particularly for large enterprises handling sensitive customer data. To address this critical need, Microsoft has been implementing significant improvements to its patching processes, focusing on achieving high patching compliance across its vast array of devices. This initiative is designed to combat the complexities of modern software, hardware, and user interfaces, ensuring a secure environment for all users.
“Every leader understands the extreme importance of keeping their data secure,” says Biswa Jaysingh, a principal product manager with Microsoft Digital Employee Experience. “No enterprise wants to be the next company that gets exposed by one of these hacks that has happened in the past and to lose sensitive business or customer data.”
Microsoft is focusing on improving patching through its Digital Employee Experience team, recognizing that outdated software on employee devices can create vulnerabilities within the network. Consequently, Microsoft is using new technologies and strategies developed in-house and in partnership with product groups to improve patching compliance throughout the company.
Recent advancements in first-party patching technologies, including integration with Windows Update for Business, Microsoft Endpoint Manager, and Microsoft Defender for Endpoints, are enabling Microsoft to achieve unprecedented levels of security while simultaneously reducing costs and accelerating deployment timelines. Microsoft is seeing efficiencies accrue from these updates, including from consolidating multiple separate patch deployments and by finding ways to reduce the need for device reboots.
The Challenge of First-Party Software
Developers play a crucial role, especially when they use powerful first-party tools like Microsoft Visual Studio and developer platforms such as .NET to create new software. Because .NET is deployed not only on developer machines but also on the computers where the applications they develop run, keeping these systems patched becomes even more critical.
With the growth of cloud-connected devices accessing the internet, there are more potential areas for malicious actors to exploit. Staying secure is more important than ever, which means patch compliance must be as close to 100% as possible across all device levels.
“The last thing we want is for Microsoft to ship a fix for a vulnerability, but an enterprise isn’t able to adopt the update. That would leave them insecure,” notes Christina Ruana, principal program manager for Microsoft Visual Studio. Through innovation and updates, Microsoft is making it easier for IT professionals and teams to address patching challenges.
Streamlining Patch Management
Previously, Microsoft’s patching operations involved manually managing a variety of software solutions, including significant applications such as Visual Studio and .NET. However, by migrating critical patch deployments to Windows Update for Business in November 2022, Microsoft significantly improved the timeliness and accuracy of device patching. This enabled Microsoft to improve compliance rates within .NET as developers found new means of using the software. Microsoft created updated pathways for current builds and older compliant builds.
Efficiencies are being achieved by eliminating manual deployments through automation and streamlining patch rollouts via Windows Update and Windows Update for Business. These universal patch sources reduce testing time and deployment errors. When updates are more accurate and reach user devices quicker, Microsoft ensures security across a broader range of devices and applications. Therefore, innovations are improving both the security and user experience.
Microsoft is leveraging existing technology to better manage patching, which reduces costs, speeds up development, and improves the efficiency of patching operations. This approach minimizes the potential errors from manual deployments, while a single source for updates reduces complexity and improves the user experience.
With updates to Visual Studio and .NET, Microsoft has witnessed an increase in patching compliance for internal clients developing new programs. This results in growing security benefits throughout the company.
These efforts are part of a broader strategy to make networks, and ultimately customer data, more secure.
