Believe it or not, there was a time back in the early ‘90s when security teams could practically count on their fingers the annual number of new vulnerabilities. Even when software usage drastically ramped up in the ‘00s, tracking and remediating these risks was still a fairly straightforward task.
Fast forward to today, and we’re inundated with thousands of previously unknown security vulnerabilities every month. More than 32,000 new Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) have been recorded so far this year alone, and the National Vulnerability Database (NVD), the US government repository for reported vulnerabilities, now faces an unprecedented backlog of CVEs. Challenges in handling the sheer volume of incoming data have been exacerbated by resource constraints and scaled back support from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
For security teams, this avalanche of vulnerabilities isn’t just a numbers game; it’s a constant scramble to pinpoint the real risks threatening their operations. Without more efficient tools and approaches, organizations risk trying to extinguish every fire in a forest that’s only growing denser by the day.
Why outdated vulnerability management needs an upgrade
While the number of incoming vulnerabilities has spiralled out of control, many organizations still rely on traditional practices developed back in the ‘90s when cataloguing vulnerabilities was a manual checklist item.
But many of these practices have aged like milk. With the daily influx of new threats, teams are overwhelmed, especially as the NVD backlog means security teams wait longer for the critical context for accurate assessment.
Legacy practices can lead to inefficient triaging as a standard daily activity and, on a human level, that’s a one-way ticket to burnout among security teams stretched to their limits. Worse, practitioners who can’t prioritise threats based on real-world context risk wasting their time on minor issues while severe threats go unaddressed.
As the vulnerability landscape continues to expand and grow even more hostile, organizations must move beyond antiquated approaches that can’t keep up with the scale and speed of modern attacks.
Adding context to vulnerability data: the missing piece
It’s easy to assume that a higher vulnerability count means more risk. In reality, not all vulnerabilities pose a threat, and security teams need context to decide which ones actually matter. The goal isn’t to squash every vulnerability but to tackle the ones that truly affect your unique attack surface – a task that demands smarter, context-driven methods.
Enter risk-based prioritization, an approach that helps security teams target the vulnerabilities most relevant to their organization. This relies in part on having fast and accurate threat data to work with.
With the NVD backlog growing, organizations can’t depend on this database as their sole data source. Today’s smarter, context-rich strategy involves integrating other sources like vendor alerts, internal threat data, and CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities. By leveraging automated tools to aggregate and enrich these diverse inputs, security teams can reduce their dependence on the NVD and gain a fuller picture.
But even with accurate input, the sheer volume of incoming vulnerabilities can still be overwhelming. To truly get ahead of the wave, IT and security teams also need to be armed with efficient, automated processes that can keep up.
From SOC to VOC: a model for smarter management
Security Operations Centres (SOCs) have long been the nerve centre for threat management, but the colossal scope of today’s vulnerabilities calls for something more targeted. An approach that’s fast gaining traction in organizations is the Vulnerability Operations Centre (VOC), which focuses specifically on vulnerability monitoring and response, aiming to address threats before they escalate.
Based on the SOC model, a VOC offers a structured, risk-based approach, helping teams hone in on critical vulnerabilities. This model enables organizations to combine data sources – whether from the NVD, internal monitoring, deep and dark web threat intelligence, or automated alerts – into one, unified strategy. With a VOC, security teams can focus on the threats that genuinely require intervention.
Additionally, integrating automation into the VOC framework boosts both speed and accuracy, streamlining the overwhelming data into actionable insights. This allows organizations to keep pace with incoming threats without drowning in data.
By adopting a VOC model, organizations can finally pivot from a scattered approach to a coherent, prioritised vulnerability management strategy: one that keeps teams sharp, proactive, and ready to respond where it counts.
Evolving with the threat landscape
The flood of vulnerabilities is only going to rise in the months and years to come.
Security teams still working with traditional models are going to find themselves dangerously overwhelmed, more and more likely to miss big threats that could facilitate a breach costing their company millions.
By focusing on context through risk-based prioritization and frameworks like VOC, organizations can reduce the noise, sharpen their focus, and set security teams up to respond to threats efficiently.
For security leaders, now is the time to rethink old methods and adopt a strategy that arms their teams with the insights they need to navigate today’s threat landscape with confidence.
