Digital technology enables public and private enterprises to harvest, collect and store valuable data. These insights help them to make more informed decisions, and further improve their ability to understand the consumer landscape and have better predictive analysis.
Despite the accessibility to information, there are some drawbacks. One major issue many businesses and government entities are facing is the rising threat of cyberattacks, which was responsible for an average of 26 hours of unplanned downtime per organisation in 2022, according to Dell Technologies’ 2023 Global Data Protection Index.
More than this, the cost of cyber incidents has doubled, costing approximately £500,000 per attack in 2022, and increasing to more than £1 million per incident by the end of 2023.
These cyber incidents have become a costly and systematic threat to many organisations, including public enterprises that collect and store highly sensitive information relating to their operations, citizens and adversaries.
Understanding Vulnerability Assessment and Management (VAM) Solutions
Just as cybersecurity attacks and vulnerabilities have become more advanced in recent years, so have organisations adapted new technologies to improve their systematic review of security weaknesses within their information system.
A vulnerability assessment and management (VAM) solution helps to evaluate a digital system that may have become susceptible to any possible vulnerabilities or security weaknesses, and will then further assign various levels of severity to each of these vulnerabilities.
With these actions a vulnerability scan can clearly identify the operating system that may have known and unknown threats, and how malicious actious may exploit vulnerabilities through remote access.
The great thing about vulnerability assessment and management is that this software can help make recommendations for remediation, assign possible solutions for problem mitigation, and help identify more sophisticated outcomes to possible problems should they ever be needed.
With Vulnerability Assessment and Management Contracts, companies can work collaboratively to ensure the protection of various digital touch points within their organisational structure and ensure the identification of certain security weaknesses and vulnerabilities.
The Value of VAM Solutions
Vulnerability and risk assessment for pre-disaster management and risk assessment can help enterprises mitigate potential near-term issues, and further their long-term development and security strategies.
Both within the public and private ecosystem, VAM solutions can help provide more sophisticated security solutions, helping companies better understand where there may be existing pitfalls, and helping government enterprises identify any weaknesses that could lead to valuable information landing in the wrong hands.
Comprehensive Vulnerability Identification
Vulnerability scanning helps enterprises scan their networks, various applications and software systems. By conducting routine inspections, organisations can identify any possible unknown vulnerabilities and act upon these weaknesses.
Risk-Based Prioritization
VAM solutions assist in assigning risk scores to vulnerabilities, further enabling organisations to focus on their remediation efforts. During vulnerability scanning, the risk assessment would monitor the critical systems that have been affected, and identify the type of data at risk, the potential damage that could occur due to the vulnerability, and the severity of the attack.
Remediation Guidance
Throughout the risk management and vulnerability assessment, VAM solutions will provide enterprises with actionable recommendations and further steps that they can follow to address certain vulnerabilities. These actions will enable them to have a better understanding of their problems, and how they can remedy the situation as effectively as possible.
Continuous Monitoring
The difference between vulnerability assessment and vulnerability management is that VAM solutions can assess specific risks within the value chain and provide the necessary vulnerability management. This further ensures continuous monitoring of organisational systems and helps to maintain a strong security posture and network system.
Compliance Reporting
A part of risk management and vulnerability assessment is to promote compliance reporting for companies. These measures ensure that companies remain informed about compliance and industry standards, including PCI, DSS, HIPAA and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Key Considerations in VAM Tenders
Assigning VAM contracts to a team of skilled professionals would ensure that all necessary components of the project can be covered and that the various objectives of the company and security protocols can be achieved.
However, enterprises applying for VAM tenders and contracts will need to make sure that they follow a few considerations and guidelines beforehand to help improve their chances of winning valuable contracts with public or private entities.
Scope
Each tender and contract will have a desired scope i.e. internal networks, external-facing assets, cloud environments, and web applications, among other things. As a service provider, your companies will need to carefully align key strategies with the tender scope to achieve actionable success.
Scanning Frequency
Next would be to follow up with whether your company will be required to conduct continuous, scheduled or on-demand scanning throughout the process. Depending on the needs of the enterprise, vulnerability scans can play an important role in the wider success of each project and security patches.
Automation Capabilities
For a better chance of winning VAM contracts and tenders, ensure to prioritise solutions that contain robust automation features. These features can vary depending on the needs of the contract or service buyer, however, it’s important to highlight important features including increased efficiency and scalability.
Integration with Existing Tools
A big part of vulnerability management is to ensure the integration of VAM solutions within existing tools and systems. As a potential service provider, you will need to prioritise VAM solutions integration with other ticketing systems such as SIEMs, and patch management solutions.
Vendor Expertise and Support
As part of the vulnerability assessment and management contracts process, try and emphasise the importance of vendor reputation. This may include the experience you’ve garnered over the years within the relevant industry and the potential robust support models that you have developed and deployed over the years.
Best Practices for Evaluating VAM Tenders
Here are some best practices when applying for VAM tenders.
Accuracy and False Positives
Minimise the frequency of false positives, and deliver accurate vulnerability identification. By showcasing your track record of having false positives, you can increase your chances of being a more suitable service provider.
Usability and Reporting
When working on a vulnerability assessment and management policy ensure that enterprise VAM solutions can offer a clear and accurate interface that can provide service buyers with customizable reports and easy-to-understand interpretations.
Cost-Effectiveness
Throughout the process, make sure to compare the total cost of ownership, factoring in things such as licensing, implementation, and maintenance costs.
Scalability
For Vulnerability Assessment and Management Tenders, it’s important to conduct penetration testing to help grow and adapt to an organisation’s evolving infrastructure and various security needs.
Conclusion
Vulnerability Assessment and Management (VAM) can help to conduct risk assessments and vulnerability analysis in disaster management and pre-disaster management. These actions can help organisations to proactively protect their information and data infrastructure from potential cyber security threats.
When evaluating a vulnerability assessment and management policy it’s important to identify the main components of vulnerability management and assessment (VAM) as a way to consider the specific tender responses, and how to leverage key success metrics as a way to improve your chances of winning valuable VAM tenders and contracts.
For better guidance and assistance with Vulnerability Assessment and Management Contracts request a free demo from DCI, and allow our skilled and trained professional team to assist you with all your VAM solution tenders and pre-disaster contract needs.
