
Why Patch Management Remains the Most Annoying Problem in IT Security
From The Security Strategist by EM360Tech
April 10, 2026 · 23 min · Season 1 · Episode 112
About this episode
This episode discusses the challenges of patch management in IT security and offers strategies to simplify the process.
Keeping your organisation’s systems secure can feel like an endless battle. Patch management and vulnerability mitigation are often seen as tedious tasks, but they form the backbone of effective cybersecurity. In this episode of the Security Strategist podcast, host Richard Stiennon and Mike Walters , co-founder of Action1, break down why patching remains challenging and share practical strategies to make the process simpler, smarter, and more effective. Patch Management Remains a Challenge Patch management has been a concern since the earliest days of computing, dating back to mainframes and early PCs. Despite technological advances, it remains a "busy work" task that many IT teams find overwhelming. So what makes patching so hard today? One of the main reasons patching is still so difficult is the constant evolution of IT ecosystems. As Walters explains, "The biggest challenge is the ever-evolving nature of software with different applications, sources, and methodologies." Operating systems, third-party apps, and custom configurations all require tailored approaches for updates and patches, making uniform processes impossible. Large…
People in this episode
Host: Richard Stiennon
Guest: Mike Walters
Topics covered
- patch management
- IT security
- vulnerability mitigation
- cybersecurity
- technology challenges
Keywords
- patch management
- IT security
- cybersecurity
- vulnerability mitigation
- technology challenges
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Action1
More episodes of The Security Strategist
- Will AI Kill Policy-Based Data Security? · June 10, 2026 · 23 min
- How Agentic AI Is Reshaping Cybersecurity · June 4, 2026 · 29 min
- The New Cyber Battlefield: AI vs AI and the Rise of Autonomous Security Systems · June 3, 2026 · 28 min
- Thinking Like an Attacker: How to Strengthen Modern Cyber Defence Strategies · May 28, 2026 · 21 min
- Are Your AI Agents a Hidden Attack Surface? Rethinking Identity and Access in the Agent Era · May 26, 2026 · 17 min
- The Cybersecurity Blind Spot Leaders Are Missing, and Why It’s About to Get Worse · May 13, 2026 · 41 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Security Strategist podcast page.