Tenable on Monday announced the general availability of a new service designed to help organizations identify the vulnerabilities that have the highest likelihood of being exploited.
Predictive Prioritization is currently available for Tenable customers using the Tenable.sc on-premises vulnerability management solution, but it will be added to Tenable.io, the cloud-based version, later this year.
The cybersecurity firm has pointed out that of the more than 16,000 new vulnerabilities disclosed in 2018, only 7 percent had an exploit available and Tenable estimates that only 3 percent will actually be exploited.
Many experts agree that prioritizing patching based on CVSS scores can be highly ineffective – the method creates a vulnerability overload and places a lot of pressure on security teams.
Tenable’s new Predictive Prioritization service aims to address this by helping organizations identify those 3 percent of security holes that are actually likely to be exploited in attacks.
Using data from over 150 sources, Predictive Prioritization helps calculate a vulnerability priority rating (VPR) for each vulnerability. Unlike the CVSS score, which is static, the VPR is updated daily based on the latest threat information and it helps predict if a flaw will be exploited in the next 28 days.
“Predictive Prioritization is a massive innovation in vulnerability management. It will change the way companies run their vulnerability management programs by giving them a new level of insight on where to focus based on threats to the business,” said Renaud Deraison, co-founder and CTO of Tenable. “Predictive Prioritization is unprecedented in the vulnerability management market and will help organizations answer foundational questions about where they’re exposed and what vulnerabilities to prioritize for remediation based on the threat landscape — two questions that are critical for achieving Cyber Exposure.”
Related: For Effective Patch Management, Don’t Overlook Risk
Related: Tenable Soars on IPO Day

Eduard Kovacs (@EduardKovacs) is a contributing editor at SecurityWeek. He worked as a high school IT teacher for two years before starting a career in journalism as Softpedia’s security news reporter. Eduard holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial informatics and a master’s degree in computer techniques applied in electrical engineering.
More from Eduard Kovacs
- Unpatched Econolite Traffic Controller Vulnerabilities Allow Remote Hacking
- Google Fi Data Breach Reportedly Led to SIM Swapping
- Microsoft’s Verified Publisher Status Abused in Email Theft Campaign
- British Retailer JD Sports Discloses Data Breach Affecting 10 Million Customers
- Meta Awards $27,000 Bounty for 2FA Bypass Vulnerability
- Industry Reactions to Hive Ransomware Takedown: Feedback Friday
- US Reiterates $10 Million Reward Offer After Disruption of Hive Ransomware
- Hive Ransomware Operation Shut Down by Law Enforcement
Latest News
- Malicious NPM, PyPI Packages Stealing User Information
- VMware Confirms Exploit Code Released for Critical vRealize Logging Vulnerabilities
- 98% of Firms Have a Supply Chain Relationship That Has Been Breached: Analysis
- Dutch, European Hospitals ‘Hit by Pro-Russian Hackers’
- Gem Security Gets $11 Million Seed Investment for Cloud Incident Response Platform
- Ransomware Leads to Nantucket Public Schools Shutdown
- Stop, Collaborate and Listen: Disrupting Cybercrime Networks Requires Private-Public Cooperation and Information Sharing
- Boxx Insurance Raises $14.4 Million in Series B Funding
