No patch? No problem—for now. I tighten access, deploy WAF/IPS, and monitor like a hawk. Delayed patch? Lock it down. Least privilege, segmentation, and 24/7 monitoring. Patch late threats aren’t. Harden configs, restrict access, and watch the logs. Assume the worst. Plan for it. Zero trust, tight controls, and real-time detection. Security = layers. If a patch is delayed, I stack defenses and stay paranoid.

When a vendor patch is delayed, mitigate risk by implementing compensatory controls. 1. Conduct a risk assessment to evaluate exploitability and impact. 2. Apply network segmentation, strict firewall rules, and endpoint protection to limit exposure. 3. Use virtual patching via IPS/WAF to block known exploits. Enforce MFA, least privilege, and access restrictions. 4. Increase SIEM, EDR, and anomaly detection monitoring for real-time threat alerts. 5. Apply temporary vendor workarounds and disable affected services if possible. 6. Maintain offline backups for recovery. 7. Strengthen incident response readiness to contain threats.

The priority is to mitigate the risk while ensuring business continuity. 1. Immediate Risk Mitigation • Virtual Patching • Network Segmentation: Isolate the vulnerable system from untrusted networks and restrict access to only essential users/services. • Access Control & Least Privilege: Limit administrative privileges and enforce strict authentication controls (e.g: MFA). 2. Continuous Monitoring & Threat Detection • Increased Logging & Alerting: Enable detailed logging and integrate with a SIEM for real-time threat monitoring. • Threat Intelligence & IOCs: Apply threat intelligence feeds to detect potential exploitation attempts. 3. Compensating Controls • Endpoint & Host Protection: Strengthen endpoint security with EDR/XDR

To safeguard your network, you need to first assess your network's vulnerabilities. This is so that you would know what threats it could possibly be exposed to. You need to then implement frequent monitoring of the network. This is to help you identify if there are any threats or not. You must also make sure that your firewall is in place and is up-to-date. This is to ensure that it's equipped with the highest level of security features.