What is the primary purpose of patch management?

The primary purpose of patch management is to regularly update systems and applications to protect against vulnerabilities. Patching involves applying updates provided by software vendors to fix security flaws, bugs, and other issues that could be exploited by malicious actors. Keeping systems current with the latest patches is crucial for maintaining the security posture of an organization, as vulnerabilities can serve as entry points for cyberattacks. By implementing an effective patch management strategy, organizations can minimize the risk of security breaches and ensure that their systems are resilient against emerging threats.

In this context, the other choices focus on different aspects of IT management: improving network speed and performance relates to optimizing infrastructure rather than addressing vulnerabilities; creating redundant backup systems pertains to data recovery rather than ongoing security maintenance; and monitoring network traffic for anomalies is a form of network security analysis rather than directly addressing the updates and fixes that patch management focuses on. Each of these functions is important, but they serve distinct purposes that do not align with the core objective of patch management.