--- title: 60% of Breaches in 2019 Involved Unpatched Vulnerabilities description: Companies worldwide have mustered the motivation to address the most common cybersecurity challenges, but are hampered by technological and procedural lapses, new research shows. image: https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/hubfs/02-2017/oem_iot_banner_iot.png --- [![](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/hubfs/2021/09/logo-white.svg)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/?hsLang=en-us) [![CONTACT AN EXPERT](https://hubspot-no-cache-eu1-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/default/341979/1d8885e9-1179-49b1-a5ec-9c75f5f670dd.png)](https://hubspot-cta-redirect-eu1-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/redirect/341979/1d8885e9-1179-49b1-a5ec-9c75f5f670dd) - [For Home](https://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/) - [For Business](https://www.bitdefender.com/business/) - [Resources](https://www.bitdefender.com/business/resource-library.html) - [Webinars](https://www.bitdefender.com/business/webinars.html) # [BUSINESS INSIGHTS](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/?hsLang=en-us) By [**Filip Truta**](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/author/filip-truta) / Oct 31, 2019 # 60% of Breaches in 2019 Involved Unpatched Vulnerabilities Share this [![Share on email](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/hubfs/2021/07/blog/email-color.png)](mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/60-of-breaches-in-2019-involved-unpatched-vulnerabilities&utm_medium=social&utm_source=email%20&body=Check%20out%20https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/60-of-breaches-in-2019-involved-unpatched-vulnerabilities&utm_medium=social&utm_source=email) [![Share on twitter](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/hubfs/2021/07/blog/twitter-color.png)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/60-of-breaches-in-2019-involved-unpatched-vulnerabilities&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&url=https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/60-of-breaches-in-2019-involved-unpatched-vulnerabilities&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&source=tweetbutton&text=) [![Share on linkedin](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/hubfs/2021/07/blog/linkedin-color.png)](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/60-of-breaches-in-2019-involved-unpatched-vulnerabilities&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin) [![Share on facebook](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/hubfs/2021/07/blog/facebook-color.png)](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/60-of-breaches-in-2019-involved-unpatched-vulnerabilities&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook) Companies worldwide have mustered the motivation to address the most common cybersecurity challenges, but are hampered by technological and procedural lapses, new research shows. Cyber risk has become a board room topic in recent years, but many hurdles associated with cybersecurity tools and processes have yet to be resolved. For example, unpatched software vulnerabilities – one of the most common attack vectors for cybercriminals – remains a huge problem for organizations everywhere. Despite a 24% average increase in annual spending on prevention, detection and remediation, data silos and poor organizational coordination delay the patching of known flaws by an average of 12 days, according to a [study](https://www.servicenow.com/lpayr/ponemon-vulnerability-survey.html) conducted by Ponemon Institute for ServiceNow. The average timeline to patch the most critical vulnerabilities is even longer – 16 days. Surveyors polled 3,000 security professionals in nine countries and learned that cyberattacks increased 17% over the past year and their severity rose 27% compared to 2018 – no small numbers by any measure. However, key to these findings was that 60% of breaches were linked to a vulnerability where **a patch was available, but not applied**, reminiscent of the Equifax mega breach in late 2017, and other high-profile security incidents. Other key findings include: - 34% increase in weekly costs for patching compared to 2018 - 30% more downtime, due to delays in patching vulnerabilities - 69% of respondents plan to hire an average of five staff members dedicated to patching in the next year, at an average cost of $650,000 annually for each organization - 88% said they must engage with other departments across their organizations, which results in coordination issues that delay patching by an average of 12 days - 76% noted the lack of a common view of applications and assets across security and IT teams - 74% said they cannot take critical applications and systems offline to patch them quickly - 72% reported difficulty in prioritizing what needs to be patched Factors beyond staffing that contribute to delays in vulnerability patching show that organizations are in dire need of [automated patch management](https://www.bitdefender.com/business/enterprise-products/enterprise-security.html) in an ever-expending cybercriminal landscape. The results also underscore the need for organizations to act sooner rather than later. ### Explore More Topics - [Enterprise Security (757)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/enterprise-security) - [Threat Research (205)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/threat-research) - [SMB Security (184)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/smb-security) - [Cloud Security (174)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/cloud-security) - [Ransomware (169)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/ransomware) - [Privacy and Data Protection (139)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/privacy-and-data-protection) - [Cybersecurity Awareness (136)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/cybersecurity-awareness) - [Endpoint Protection & Management (131)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/endpoint-protection-management) - [Endpoint Detection and Response (125)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/endpoint-detection-and-response) - [Managed Detection and Response (121)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/managed-detection-and-response) - [Virtualization & Data Center Security (82)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/virtualization-data-center-security) - [Threat Intelligence (80)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/threat-intelligence) - [IT Compliance & Regulations (73)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/it-compliance-regulations) - [Bitdefender Threat Debrief (57)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/bitdefender-threat-debrief) - [Managed Service Providers (54)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/managed-service-providers) - [#Featured (52)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/featured) - [Advanced Persistent Threats (47)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/advanced-persistent-threats) - [Events (39)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/events) - [Independent Testing (22)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/independent-testing) - [Cybersecurity Advisory Services (9)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/cybersecurity-advisory-services) - [Podcast (5)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/podcast) - [top (2)](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/topic/top) See all topics ### Subscribe to Blog Updates ## Read more about this topic ### [6 Tendencies Taking Shape in Enterprise Security this Year](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/six-tendencies-taking-shape-in-enterprise-security-this-year?hsLang=en-us) ### [Trust in Companies’ Ability to Protect Personal Data Is on the Decline](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/trust-in-companies-ability-to-protect-personal-data-is-on-the-decline?hsLang=en-us) ### [The Evolution of Cybersecurity and Risk Management in the Healthcare Industry](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/the-evolution-of-cybersecurity-and-risk-management-in-the-healthcare-industry?hsLang=en-us) ![bitdefender](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/hs-fs/file-2685110570-png/Bitdefender-Mar2015-Theme/Images/avatar_img_footer.png) ![bitdefender](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/hs-fs/file-2676149282-png/Bitdefender-Mar2015-Theme/Images/logo_white_footer.png) - [![https://twitter.com/Bitdefender_Ent](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/hs-fs/file-2658233851-png/Bitdefender-Mar2015-Theme/Images/ft_soc_tw.png?width=33&name=ft_soc_tw.png)](https://twitter.com/Bitdefender_Ent) - [![Linkedin-icon-300x300](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Bitdefender-Mar2015-Theme/Images/Linkedin-icon-300x300.png?width=33&name=Linkedin-icon-300x300.png)](https://www.linkedin.com/company/bitdefender-gravityzone-enterprise-security) - [![](https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/hs-fs/file-2676149307-png/Bitdefender-Mar2015-Theme/Images/ft_soc_yt.png)](https://www.youtube.com/user/BitdefenderSecurity) - [Legal Terms](https://www.bitdefender.com/legal/) - [Privacy Policy](https://www.bitdefender.com/site/view/legal-privacy-policy-for-bitdefender-websites.html) - [EULA](https://www.bitdefender.com/site/view/legal-eula.html) - [Contact Us](https://www.bitdefender.com/business/contact.html) Copyright © 1997-2023 Bitdefender All rights reserved. ![](https://px.spiceworks.com/px/5rec) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Filip Truta", "url" : "https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/author/filip-truta" }, "dateModified" : "2019-10-31T11:30:55.008Z", "datePublished" : "2019-10-31T11:29:45.000Z", "headline" : "60% of Breaches in 2019 Involved Unpatched Vulnerabilities", "image" : [ "https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/hubfs/02-2017/oem_iot_banner_iot.png" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/60-of-breaches-in-2019-involved-unpatched-vulnerabilities", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://businessinsights.bitdefender.com/hubfs/Bitdefender_Logo_Transparent-2.png" }, "name" : "Bitdefender" } } ```