Cyber Brief: Vulnerability management and identity control

Today’s cyber reporting reinforces a familiar pattern: known vulnerabilities and weak identity controls remain central to successful attacks. Organisations that combine effective vulnerability management with strong access governance are showing greater resilience and faster recovery when incidents occur.

Vulnerability exploitation continues despite available patches

Security reporting highlights ongoing exploitation of known vulnerabilities where fixes have been available for weeks or months. Attackers are prioritising speed and scale, targeting organisations that struggle to prioritise remediation or lack visibility over exposed systems.

Why it matters
Vulnerability management is about focus, not volume. Prioritising exploitable weaknesses significantly reduces real-world risk compared to chasing every finding.

Source: Vulnerability advisories

Identity remains the primary access point

Compromised credentials and poorly governed access continue to feature heavily in breach investigations. In many cases, attackers required little technical sophistication once valid access had been obtained, enabling lateral movement and privilege escalation.

Why it matters
Identity has become the effective perimeter. Strong access controls, monitoring and regular reviews are essential to prevent initial compromise becoming wider impact.

Source: Breach analysis reporting

Operational resilience separates impact from disruption

Organisations with rehearsed response and recovery plans are recovering more quickly and maintaining service continuity. Reporting contrasts this with organisations where unclear roles and untested plans delayed decision-making and increased disruption.

Why it matters
Preparation directly affects outcome. Testing response and recovery plans enables faster, more confident decisions under pressure.

Source: Cyber resilience reporting

Today’s Key Actions

1. Prioritise patching based on exploitability and exposure
2. Review privileged and high-risk identity access
3. Validate incident response and recovery plans

Secarma Insight

Resilient security programmes balance prevention with preparedness. Managing vulnerabilities, controlling identity and rehearsing response together reduces risk and supports business confidence when incidents occur.

Get in touch with us to prioritise your next steps and strengthen your security posture.