Patch Management Policy

Version 1.3

For Students, Faculty, Staff, Guests, Alumni

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to enforce patch requirements for University-owned or managed IT Resources.

Scope

This IT policy, and all policies referenced herein, shall apply to all members of the University community, including faculty, students, administrative officials, staff, alumni, authorized guests, delegates, and independent contractors (the “User(s)” or “you”) who use, access, or otherwise employ, locally or remotely, the University’s IT Resources, whether individually controlled, shared, stand-alone, or networked.

Policy Statement

  • All IT Resources must be part of a patch management cycle.
  • Owners and managers are responsible for the assessment of IT Resources under their management or supervision.
  • All patches or configuration changes must be deployed to University-owned or managed IT Resources when a vulnerability is determined per the Vulnerability Management Policy.

Definitions

IT Resources include computing, networking, communications, application, and telecommunications systems, infrastructure, hardware, software, data, databases, personnel, procedures, physical facilities, cloud-based vendors, Software as a Service (SaaS) vendors, and any related materials and services.

A patch is a software update comprised of code inserted (i.e., patched) into the code of an executable program. Typically, a patch is installed into an existing software program. Patches are often temporary fixes between full releases of a software package. Patches include, but are not limited to the following:

  • Updating software
  • Fixing a software bug
  • Installing new drivers
  • Addressing new security vulnerabilities
  • Addressing software stability issues

Patch management cycle is a part of lifecycle management and is the process of using a strategy and plan of what patches should be applied to which systems at a specified time.

Related Policies and Procedures

Implementation Information

Review Frequency: Triennial
Responsible Person: Senior Director, IT Security Operations and Assurance
Approved By: CISO
Approval Date: March 1, 2017

Revision History

VersionDateDescription
1.0 01/23/2017 Initial policy
1.1 01/29/2019 Updated policy statement
1.2 05/10/2020 Updated purpose and policy statements
1.3 08/02/2023 Updated definitions

Policy Disclaimer Statement

Deviations from policies, procedures, or guidelines published and approved by Information Security and Assurance (ISA) may only be done cooperatively between ISA and the requesting entity with sufficient time to allow for appropriate risk analysis, documentation, and possible presentation to authorized University representatives. Failure to adhere to ISA written policies may be met with University sanctions.

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