Practical Vulnerability Management: A real-world guide to risk, remediation, and AI-assisted security (English Edition)

Modern organizations face thousands of vulnerabilities across applications, cloud environments, containers, APIs, and software supply chains. The challenge today is not just to find vulnerabilities, but to understand which ones matter most and fix them before attackers can exploit them. As cloud adoption, DevOps, and AI-driven development continue to grow, vulnerability management has become one of the most important and complex areas of cybersecurity.

Practical Vulnerability Management takes readers through the full lifecycle of building and running an effective vulnerability management program. The book covers core foundations, asset discovery, risk-based prioritization, threat intelligence, cloud-native security challenges, remediation workflows, fix validation, governance, compliance, audit readiness, and program effectiveness measurement. It also explores lessons from major real-world incidents and explains how AI can improve vulnerability discovery, triage, remediation, and operational decision-making.

By the end of this book, readers will be able to design stronger vulnerability management workflows, improve prioritization based on real business risk, reduce exposure faster, and build scalable programs that align security with engineering and business goals. This book equips security leaders, engineers, and practitioners with the practical skills needed to move beyond scanning and build stronger, more resilient security operations.

What you will learn

● Build practical vulnerability management programs for modern environments.

● Prioritize vulnerabilities using risk, exposure, and business impact.

● Improve remediation speed through stronger ownership and workflows.

● Strengthen cloud and DevOps security with continuous visibility.

● Use AI-assisted analysis to improve triage and remediation.

Who this book is for

This book is for cybersecurity professionals, students, application security engineers, vulnerability management teams, DevSecOps practitioners, penetration testers, cloud security engineers, and security leaders responsible for reducing risk. It is also valuable for CISOs, auditors, and engineering managers building practical security programs.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction to Vulnerability Management

2. New Vulnerability Reality

3. Vulnerability Prioritization Reimagined

4. Intelligent Vulnerability Management

5. Vulnerability Management for DevOps and Cloud Environments

6. Continuous, Adaptive Vulnerability Management

7. Human Side of Vulnerability Management Programs

8. Simplifying Vulnerability Management Governance

9. Economics of Vulnerability Management

10. Real-world Vulnerability Management Lessons

11. Applying AI to Vulnerability Management

12. Building a Mature Vulnerability Management Program

13. AI-driven Vulnerability Management with Claude

Aditya Gupta is a cybersecurity leader with over 23 years of global experience specializing in identity security, vulnerability management, risk management, Zero Trust architectures, and cybersecurity transformation. He has led large-scale security programs for Fortune 500 organizations, modernizing their cybersecurity postures and strengthening resilience against evolving threats. He works closely with CISOs and senior executives to drive strategic change. He holds a bachelor of engineering and an MBA from FMS Delhi, along with certification including CISSP, CCSP, and CCNA, reflecting deep expertise across cloud security, enterprise architecture, and network infrastructure.Aditya is a recognized thought leader in the cybersecurity space, sharing insights and trends with an audience of more than 25,000 LinkedIn followers. His contributions to the field have earned him and his organization numerous awards, including the ISG Analyst Award for Cybersecurity, the Oracle Best Partner Award, the Global Recognition Award, the Leadership by Example Award, and the NAM Star Award for Cybersecurity Excellence in North America. His thought leadership is regularly featured in leading publications such as MIT Technology Review, RSA Conference, Dark Reading, ISC2 Members' Voice, Cybersecurity-Insiders, Security Boulevard, and Cyber Defense Magazine, where he writes on various topics, including adaptive security, AI-driven identity governance, and insider threats. He also serves as a judge for renowned global awards programs, including the Stevie Awards, the Globee Awards, the Business Intelligence Group Awards, and the Conrad Innovation Challenge, reflecting his commitment to recognizing innovation and excellence across the industry. He plays an active role in cybersecurity education as a member of ISC2's Unified Body of Knowledge (UBK) Content Advisory Panel and as an ISC2 Exam Development Volunteer. In this book, he brings that same blend of hands-on program-building experience and field- wide perspective to the practical challenge of making vulnerability management work at scale.

Akhil Mittal is a recognized cybersecurity leader, strategist, and advisor with nearly 20 years of technology experience and more than a decade of deep specialization in application security, vulnerability management, cloud security, and offensive security programs. He has built and led enterprise-scale security initiatives for global organizations across financial services, retail, healthcare, and technology sectors, helping businesses strengthen resilience and reduce operational risk.Over the course of his career, Akhil has designed and scaled vulnerability management programs covering thousands of applications, integrating secure development practices, threat modeling, penetration testing, secure architecture reviews, and cloud-native security into large engineering ecosystems. His expertise spans application security (AppSec), DevSecOps, Managed Security Testing, cloud security, software supply chain security, and offensive security strategy. Akhil currently serves in senior cybersecurity leadership roles, advising organizations on building scalable and practical security programs aligned with business priorities. He has managed multimillion-dollar security portfolios, led high-performing security teams, and partnered directly with CISOs, executives, and engineering leaders to mature security operations. He holds multiple respected certifications, including CISSP, CCSP, AWS solutions architect associate, and professional scrum master. Beyond his professional work, Akhil actively contributes to the cybersecurity community through mentoring, judging global technology awards, serving on advisory boards, and participating in industry panels and technical reviews. Through this book, Akhil combines practical experience, operational lessons, and strategic insight to help organizations build stronger, smarter, and more effective vulnerability management programs in an increasingly complex threat landscape.