Vendor-provided software and updates are critical for maintaining the security and functionality of your IT environment. However, if not managed properly, these updates can sometimes cause system instability, including crashes.

Following are some best practice actions for minimizing these risks and ensuring a smooth integration of vendor updates.

Actions to Take with Your Vendors

Consider the following actions to confirm that your vendors are taking the necessary precautions to prevent performance issues:

  • Validate Vendor QA Procedures: Ensure your vendors leverage both automated and manual software testing methods to identify potential issues.  Also ensure the vendor conducts compatibility testing with other common software and system configurations to prevent conflicts that might lead to crashes
  • Implement Gradual Rollouts: Verify that the vendor uses a gradual rollout method to minimize risk by not updating all clients at once.
  • Ensure Updates Work with Other Customers:  Request to be “last in line” (or later in line) for updates to better ensure any bugs have been identified and corrected prior to your implementation.
  • Request Necessary Documentation: Request detailed troubleshooting guides to help your IT team quickly address any problems that arise.
  • Schedule Updates During Support Hours: Ensure that vendor updates only occur during regular working hours any issues can quickly be addressed.
  • Maintain Communication with Your Vendor: Keep open lines of communication with your vendor to quickly report any issues and receive timely support.

Actions to Take Internally

If your organization has sufficient bandwidth, there are additional steps you can take internally to further mitigate the risk of crashes.  While we expect that most SMEs will primarily rely on the actions recommended in the previous section, the following measures can further reduce the risk of vendor software update issues.

  • Test Updates in a Controlled Environment: Before deploying updates across your entire network, test them in a controlled environment to identify any potential issues.  Turn off Auto Updates to ensure that no untested updates can be installed.
  • Implement Gradual Rollouts: Similar to vendors, use a phased approach to update deployment within your organization. Start with a small group of systems before rolling out to the entire network.
  • Schedule Updates During Low-Traffic Periods: Deploy updates during times of low system usage to minimize disruption and ensure that your IT staff is available to address any issues.
  • Backup Critical Systems: Before applying updates, ensure that critical systems and data are backed up. This allows for quick recovery in case of an update-related issue.

How Cynet Minimized Software Update Risks

We understand the critical importance of system stability and take several measures to ensure that our software does not cause performance degradation issues.

  1. Rigorous Testing:
    • Manual and Automated Testing: Cynet heavily tests its software and updates through a combination of manual and automated testing processes. This extensive testing helps identify and resolve potential issues before deployment.
  2. Gradual Rollout Method:
    • Controlled Updates: Cynet employs a gradual rollout method for software updates, ensuring that not all customers receive the update simultaneously. This approach limits the impact of any potential issues to a small subset of customers.
    • Internal Testing: We begin our version updates with Cynet’s internal employee network (Cynet HQ). This internal testing phase allows us to identify and address any issues before the updates reach our customers.
  3. Strategic Deployment Timing:
    • Regular Working Hours: Cynet deploys new versions and updates during the regular working hours of our engineers. This ensures that any issues that arise can be promptly addressed by our team, minimizing disruption to our customers.

Cynet’s commitment to protecting our customers is matched by our dedication to ensuring the stability and reliability of our software. By leveraging kernel-level capabilities, rigorous testing, controlled rollouts, and strategic deployment practices, we strive to provide the highest level of security without compromising system stability.

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