Will Patching Break My Network?
IT organizations understand the importance of applying current security updates, or "patches", to the operating systems and software applications running in their environment. However, many are reluctant to do so for fear of "breaking" their systems and causing outages. And, [...]
Why Don’t IT Departments Fully Patch Their Environments?
The failure to fully apply security updates (patches) to operating systems and software applications is the leading cause of cybersecurity compromise. A recent survey by Ponemon Institute of over 3,000 organizations, found that half had experienced a cybersecurity breach in [...]
Alvaka Networks Speed and Feed Driving Events
Periodically, Alvaka Networks sponsors a car driving event for clients. This type of event is often referred to as an HPDE, or High Performance Driving Event. At this event, guests participate in both classroom and on race track driving instruction. [...]
To patch or not to patch? And what is patching anyway?
If you own a computer, it is very likely you know something about patching, or updating, software. First, this is different from upgrading, which usually means a developer of software has added new features or made significant changes to the [...]
Network Monitoring Operational Maturity Growth
I just read a press release about a new product, NetBeez, which performs active network monitoring from the user perspective. I suppose it has a narrow fit, but it seems to me that most modern day monitoring applications should be [...]
Victim of “sextorter” shares her experience [Video]
Mimi Grant from ABL shares her personal sextortion experience in this vlog. In our previous blog, Sextortion: The New Threat No One is Talking About, Alvaka's CEO shared the email that Mimi received and resources to handle and prevent this [...]
Smoke testing is a term used to describe the testing process for servers after patches are applied. 
Estimating an average time for patching servers and PCs can be a bit tricky. It can vary from one month to the next, depending upon the number and complexity of the patches released by your software vendors. You must consider all versions of operating systems and have a complete inventory of all your application software to do this job correctly. Our experience has shown that manual patching of systems takes on average of about 1.5 hours each.
This is a basic cost calculator for you to compute your typical monthly cost for patching your servers, PCs, laptops, tablets and associated application software. It also forms the basis for you to begin calculating your Return on Investment for software patching, or for comparison with alternatives to the manual process of patching operating systems and application software—such as Patch Management as a Service, also known as Vulnerability Management as a Service.
