Automation alone isn’t enough to patch vulnerabilities — Here’s why

While the future is hard to predict, we can count on two things about the cybersecurity landscape in 2025. First: cyberattacks are growing in volume as bad actors continue to diversify their methodologies. Second: the cost of exploits is increasing. 

Impacts of cyberattacks are expanding beyond financial losses, impacting the daily operations of critical services including healthcare and travel. Organizations need to consider how they approach patching as vulnerabilities increase in volume and complexity and as exploits further threaten critical infrastructure.

Manual patching simply can’t keep up with the speed and scale of today’s cyberthreats. The complexity and sheer number of vulnerabilities make manual methods ineffective. Automation is the only way forward because it delivers the speed and efficiency needed to stay ahead. But to truly mitigate risks, autonomous patching must be paired with robust controls to ensure accuracy, compliance and security. Let’s explore why current patching approaches fall short and how automation with controls is shaping the future of patch management.

A growing list of vulnerabilities demands swift action

Based on annual research conducted by The National Vulnerability Database (NVD), 28,831 vulnerabilities were recorded in 2023 — an increase of more than 14% from 2022. This year, the continued rise in volume and evolving attack methods used in vulnerability exploits caused the NDV to incur a backlog in reporting, which they are currently working through.  

Manual approaches to patching make it impossible for cybersecurity and IT teams to keep up with remediation. On top of that, as patch management teams get behind, risk exploitations continue. Research from The State of Patch Management 2025 shows that over three-quarters of IT and security professionals report it takes one week or more to deploy a patch across the entire organization. As vulnerabilities are left unaddressed, the window for hackers to conduct exploits widens.

Automation gains are limited by fragmentation

Automation has helped IT and security teams achieve significant improvements in the patching processes, such as prioritizing vulnerabilities or deploying patches. For example, advancements in exposure management solutions can help security teams analyze vulnerability intelligence and assign risk scores, enabling teams to focus on the most critical issues first. Similarly, automated deployment features streamline patch distribution for IT teams, reducing delays. However, piecemeal automation fails to address the broader challenges of control and scale. Fragmented solutions lack the integration needed for complete automation of the patching process, leaving organizations vulnerable to errors, incomplete remediation, and increased security risks.  

To overcome these limitations, fully autonomous patching can offer a comprehensive approach that integrates vulnerability management and patching into a streamlined process. Still, end-to-end automation is not enough; IT and security teams also need robust controls within autonomous patching to effectively manage risks. 

The next era is adaptive, real-time patching with control

While automation helps enable large-scale patching and vulnerability remediation, automation alone falls short of addressing several key needs for organizations. Due to the high risk and pressure IT and security leaders face, they urgently need automation with control.

For security teams, which are responsible for monitoring vulnerability exposure, automation is crucial to prioritize patches according to risk level. However, it is also important that security teams have control over automated patching processes in real-time to escalate patching if they know there is an active exploit. 

For IT teams, which are responsible for deploying patches, automation is also needed to meet the speed and scale required for safeguarding organizations against vulnerabilities. However, control is also necessary to prevent deploying a patch that could conflict with existing applications or configurations. Features like the ability to stop, pause, or roll back patches on demand are essential for IT and security leaders facing high risks and tight deadlines. This is why the next era of patching requires an autonomous approach that blends automation with control to help organizations achieve both efficiency and resilience in their patching processes.

IT and cybersecurity leaders know that security updates and patches can be unpredictable, particularly in complex and interconnected enterprise environments. By combining automation with admin oversight — such as the ability to stop, pause, or roll back patches — organizations can shift from reactive, vulnerability firefighting to proactive deployment strategies. This approach harnesses the speed and scale of automation while preserving critical human oversight, enabling organizations to protect endpoints efficiently and with precision.