IT operations and security teams receive thousands of alerts every day from threat intelligence sources, such as vulnerability scanners, observability tools, Red Hat Lightspeed, and more. The challenge is identifying, correlating, and addressing impactful alerts from an ongoing, high-volume stream of information as quickly as possible, especially now that vulnerabilities can be exploited in a matter of hours.
Consider IBM's X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2026 , where researchers found that scanning for vulnerable software is a common attack vector–second only to exploiting incorrectly configured access controls. With powerful AI models exposing identification of new vulnerabilities, manual remediation steps can no longer keep pace with exploitation speed. This is where automation can uniquely strengthen overall defenses and limit the impact of vulnerabilities on IT operations.
What's required of IT operations and security teams now is a comprehensive security strategy, implementing a multi-layered approach to contain, patch, and limit impact across your enterprise. The threat landscape will continue to evolve, so establishing perimeter defenses with proactive vulnerability management techniques can help effectively thwart exploitation attempts. Here are 5 steps you can employ to mitigate vulnerabilities being exploited: Scanning for and exploiting vulnerabilities is a common attack method.
While industry statistics vary, it is clear that many organizations do not have a fully patched environment at all times. As a result, IT leaders have begun accelerating patching cycles. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform allows teams to patch faster and more consistently across a wide array of IT technologies, allowing these actions to be completed in minutes across your systems. See how Glen Raven uses Ansible Automation Platform to accelerate patching frequency As more vulnerabilities are uncovered at machine speed, teams need ways to quickly triage the urgent ones, then take fast action.