What are patch management basics in secure software?

• A. Patch management involves updating systems only after a breach.
• B. Inventory and prioritize vulnerabilities, apply patches in a controlled process, test patches in staging, and deploy with rollback plans.
• C. Ignore patches to avoid downtime.
• D. Patches should be applied without testing.

Answer: (B)

Patch management basics revolve around a disciplined lifecycle for keeping software secure and reliable. It starts with taking inventory of assets and identifying vulnerabilities, then prioritizing which patches to apply based on risk and exposure. Patches are then applied through a controlled process with proper change management, decision gates, and scheduling. It’s important to test patches in a staging environment first to verify they won’t break critical functionality or integrations. After testing, patches are deployed to production with rollback plans and monitoring in place so you can quickly recover if something goes wrong. This combination—inventory and prioritization, a controlled patching process, staging tests, and rollback capabilities—best reduces risk, minimizes downtime, and maintains system stability. Reactive patching after a breach is dangerous, patches left unapplied introduce known exploits, and applying patches without testing can disrupt services or cause new issues.