Computing systems and applications pose an inherent risk to IT, as they contain vulnerabilities that can be exploited. IT security professionals must quickly identify vulnerabilities, and provide ongoing and consistent remediation or mitigation measures to prevent exploitation of them. The time between discovery of a vulnerability and when the vulnerability is patched provides a window of opportunity for a threat actor to exploit the system. Vulnerability scanners enable detection of vulnerabilities across various computing devices and applications in order to reduce risk, breaches, or compromise.

In this discussion, you will describe the importance of identifying and managing vulnerabilities.

In your initial post, address the following:

• What is the importance of vulnerability management within an information security plan?
• What is the importance of reducing the window of opportunity for a threat actor?
• How do vulnerability scanners and patch management help in reducing the exploitation of vulnerabilities?

1.). Vulnerability management is a comprehensive approach to the establishment of a system of practices and processes designed to identify, analyze and address weaknesses in hardware and software that could act as attack vectors. 

Step-by-step explanation

Vulnerability management is critical within an information security plan as it helps an organization to always stay on top of vulnerabilities so that fixes can be applied effectively and frequently before an attacker can utilize them to initiate a cybersecurity breach. It involves identification, evaluation, remediation and reporting, including vulnerabilities prioritization. Network vulnerabilities represent security gaps that could be taken advantage of by adversaries to damage the network resources and steal confidential information. Adversaries are persistently looking for new vulnerabilities to take advantage of and old vulnerabilities that may have gone unpatched. An effective vulnerability management framework helps in constantly checking for new vulnerabilities which are vital for preventing cybersecurity breaches and ensuring the network and IT information's systems are secure from any exploitation.

2.). Reducing the window of opportunity for a threat actor involves ensuring that the period of time within which an attacker can exploit and cause damage to a company's system is decreased or lowered. This can be achieved by detecting the vulnerabilities quickly and patching them to eliminate the loopholes for the attackers to take advantage of.

The importance of reducing the window of opportunity for a threat actor helps to increase the resilience of the organization networks and system, including maintaining the integrity of the company. It also aids to reduce the number of attack vectors that the attackers can exploit and cause damage to the business. It also limits the attacker's capability to develop an effective attack mechanism, because, by the time they are through with the system checks, the company will have found the vulnerabilities and eliminated them leaving no room for the attackers to pounce on.

3.). Vulnerability scanners detect systems and software that have known security vulnerabilities. It is an application that finds and creates a list of all the systems connected to a network. It also attempts to detect the operating system for each device that it identifies runs and the installed software on it, including other features such as user accounts and open ports. From the inventory list, the vulnerability scanner checks each item in the inventory list against one or more databases of known vulnerabilities to ascertain whether any of those items are subject to any of those vulnerabilities. The result of the vulnerability scan shows a list of systems identified on the network containing known vulnerabilities that are highlighted for attention. The identified vulnerabilities can then be

patched to prevent exploitation by attackers.

Patch management refers to the process of managing an organizations network and IT systems by installing and applying all missing patches appropriately to ensure that the systems are up-to-date. It also ensures all updates of machines and devices within a company information system are efficiently managed and up to date. These devices include operating systems, anti-viruses, servers, routers, and firewalls. It is one of the essential parts of a business IT department since when an operating system or software is left unpatched, the company could be at risk of severe cyberattacks. The attackers will able to easily infiltrate the company systems and cause damage since adversaries are always ready to exploit unpatched networks right after the release of a security update. Therefore, upgrades and updates should be implemented immediately in a company's network and IT systems.