The Skybox Security Research Lab has released its 2024 Vulnerability and Threat Trends Report, revealing that last year alone more than 30 000 new vulnerabilities were published — a rate of a new vulnerability published every 17 minutes!

The report highlights a critical gap in remediation efforts, with the average time to patch exceeding 100 days, contrasted against the finding that 75% of new vulnerabilities are exploited in 19 days or less. These findings underscore the urgent need for continuous exposure management and modern vulnerability mitigation strategies to safeguard against the growing risks of cyberattacks.

Half of all 2023 vulnerabilities considered high or critical severity

Last year witnessed a surge in vulnerabilities, with the National Vulnerability Database (NVD) recording a 17% year-over-year increase. Since the inception of the NVD 30 years ago, 234 579 CVEs have been catalogued, yet half of those have been discovered in just the past five years. The pace at which vulnerabilities are being published is accelerating, with a new vulnerability emerging approximately every 17 minutes, an average of 600 new vulnerabilities a week, according to Skybox Research Lab.

Skybox Research Lab found that nearly half of all newly discovered vulnerabilities were classified as high or critical. This overwhelming influx creates a “focus gap” for security teams. The sheer volume of threats makes it difficult to prioritise effectively, potentially leaving critical risks overlooked and organisations exposed. The rise in vulnerabilities stems from several ongoing industry concerns, including:

A rapidly expanding attack surface with more interconnected devices;
Increasingly intricate software with hidden vulnerabilities in third-party components; and
The positive trend of more resources dedicated to uncovering vulnerabilities naturally leads to a higher number being identified.

The past year marked a watershed moment in cybersecurity, with organisations worldwide confronting an unprecedented surge in both the volume and complexity of cyberthreats. Patching remains a crucial defence, but its limitations are clear in today’s fast-paced threat landscape. Effective vulnerability management goes beyond patching. It involves continuous identification, risk-based prioritisation, leveraging existing controls for timely mitigation, and ethical cybersecurity practices. This comprehensive approach empowers organizations to navigate the complexities of modern threats. — Mordecai Rosen, CEO, Skybox Security

Mean time to remediation remains inadequate

The report further exposes a critical cybersecurity challenge: a shrinking window for vulnerability patching. The mean time to exploit (MTTE) plummeted to just 44 days in 2023, with a concerning 25% of vulnerabilities exploited the same day and a staggering 75% within 19 days. This rapid exploitation timeline starkly contrasts the lengthy 95-155 days from the CVE publication to remediation. This rapid exploitation timeline and the long delay in identifying malicious activity necessitate swift and effective response mechanisms from organisations.

There is a very short window for remediation of new vulnerabilities, which leaves cybercriminals ample time to compromise networks if not acted upon quickly.

Time to move beyond just patching

Traditional vulnerability scanning methods struggle to keep pace with today’s surge in vulnerabilities. The sheer volume overwhelms even the most diligent security teams, making spreadsheet-based tracking and patching cycles ineffective. This is why organisations are increasingly turning to modern vulnerability management solutions.

To combat shrinking remediation windows, a modern vulnerability management approach integrated within a continuous exposure management programme becomes crucial. Companies can reduce their risk and slim down their mean time to remediation (MTTR) by adopting:

Continuous vulnerability identification: Leveraging automated techniques to discover new vulnerabilities across systems and networks constantly.
Risk-based prioritisation: Not all vulnerabilities are created equal. Effective vulnerability management prioritises threats based on factors like exploitability, potential impact on critical systems or data, and the existence of patches. This ensures the security teams focus on the most critical issues first.
Leveraging existing controls: Vulnerability management solutions can help identify how these controls can be used to mitigate the risks posed by specific vulnerabilities, even before a patch is available.
Ethical and legal compliance: Cybersecurity goes beyond technical measures. Effective vulnerability management ensures adherence to relevant data privacy regulations and responsible testing.

Download the Vulnerability and Threat Trends Report 2024 from Skybox Security.

About Skybox Security
More than 500 of the largest and most security-conscious enterprises in the world rely on Skybox for the insights and assurance required to stay ahead of dynamically changing attack surfaces. Our SaaS-based Exposure Management Platform delivers complete visibility, analytics and automation to quickly map, prioritise and remediate vulnerabilities across your organisation. The vendor-agnostic solution intelligently optimises security policies, actions, and change processes across all corporate networks and cloud environments. With Skybox, security teams can now focus on the most strategic business initiatives while ensuring enterprises remain protected. Learn more at www.skyboxsecurity.com.