Determine Your Maturity Level
Use this questionnaire to evaluate your organization's container vulnerability management practices and determine where you fall on the maturity model.
Inventory Management
- How often do you update your inventory of container images?
- (A) Never
- (B) Annually
- (C) Quarterly
- (D) Monthly
- (E) Continuously updated in real-time
- How complete is your inventory of all container images?
- (A) Incomplete or unknown
- (B) Partially complete
- (C) Mostly complete
- (D) Fully complete but manually maintained
- (E) Fully complete and automatically maintained
- How is the lifecycle of container images managed within your organization?
- (A) Not managed
- (B) Managed informally
- (C) Managed through documentation
- (D) Managed with standardized processes
- (E) Fully managed and automated
Vulnerability Scanning
- How often do you scan container images for vulnerabilities?
- (A) Rarely or never
- (B) Annually
- (C) Quarterly
- (D) Monthly or as part of release cycles
- (E) Continuously and in real-time
- What tool(s) do you use for vulnerability scanning?
- (A) None
- (B) Basic CLI tools
- (C) Open-source scanners
- (D) Enterprise-level tools integrated into CI/CD
- (E) Advanced, automated scanning tools
- Who performs and manages your vulnerability scans?
- (A) No dedicated personnel
- (B) IT staff as needed
- (C) DevOps team with some security involvement
- (D) DevSecOps team
- (E) DevSecOps team with automated and proactive oversight
Patching and Remediation
- How do you apply patches to container images?
- (A) No patching process
- (B) Ad hoc, as vulnerabilities are discovered
- (C) Regularly but manually
- (D) Automatically but only in non-production environments
- (E) Automated across all environments
- How often are critical vulnerabilities patched?
- (A) Rarely or never
- (B) Within several weeks
- (C) Within two weeks
- (D) Within a week
- (E) Immediately upon detection
- How are patched images tracked?
- (A) No tracking
- (B) Basic, manual tracking
- (C) Spreadsheet or documented list
- (D) Dedicated database
- (E) Fully automated with real-time tracking
Risk and Compliance
- Do you have specific Service Level Objectives (SLOs) for vulnerability management?
- (A) No SLOs defined
- (B) SLOs in place but not enforced
- (C) Informal SLOs applied occasionally
- (D) Clear SLOs in place and tracked
- (E) SLOs continuously monitored with automated alerts
- How is compliance with security standards (e.g., CIS Docker Benchmark) enforced?
- (A) No enforcement
- (B) Basic enforcement through guidelines
- (C) Partial enforcement in production environments
- (D) Full enforcement across environments
- (E) Automated enforcement across all environments
- How do you handle non-compliance in container image vulnerability management?
- (A) No action taken
- (B) Addressed when found during audits
- (C) Addressed reactively when issues arise
- (D) Addressed as part of a structured remediation plan
- (E) Proactively identified and addressed through automation
Automation and Integration
- How integrated is vulnerability scanning in your CI/CD pipeline?
- (A) Not integrated
- (B) Occasionally integrated
- (C) Integrated but manually triggered
- (D) Fully integrated and triggered on each build
- (E) Fully automated with continuous scanning in real-time
- Do you use automated tools to update and patch container images?
- (A) No automated tools used
- (B) Minimal automation
- (C) Partially automated for low-risk environments
- (D) Mostly automated across production and non-production environments
- (E) Fully automated, with patches applied based on risk level
- How integrated are vulnerability management tools with IT risk management systems?
- (A) Not integrated
- (B) Limited integration
- (C) Partial integration
- (D) Fully integrated
- (E) Fully integrated with predictive analytics
Threat Intelligence
- How do you stay informed of emerging container vulnerabilities?
- (A) No structured approach
- (B) Ad hoc updates
- (C) Regular updates via CVE feeds
- (D) Automated updates through subscribed sources
- (E) Proactive threat intelligence integration
- How is threat intelligence used to enhance container security?
- (A) Not used
- (B) Used occasionally for patching
- (C) Used regularly to inform scanning
- (D) Incorporated into automated detection
- (E) Fully integrated into predictive and preemptive security
- How often are image repositories scanned for potential vulnerabilities?
- (A) Rarely or never
- (B) Monthly
- (C) Weekly
- (D) Daily
- (E) Continuously
Monitoring and Response
- How is runtime monitoring of container security managed?
- (A) Not managed
- (B) Ad hoc monitoring only in production
- (C) Partial monitoring in production
- (D) Continuous monitoring in production
- (E) Continuous, real-time monitoring in all environments
- How is vulnerability detection managed for running containers?
- (A) Not managed
- (B) Managed after incidents occur
- (C) Regular manual checks
- (D) Automated checks at runtime
- (E) Real-time, automated checks with alerting
- Do you have a formal incident response plan for container vulnerabilities?
- (A) No plan
- (B) Informal, ad hoc response
- (C) Structured plan but rarely practiced
- (D) Well-defined plan practiced occasionally
- (E) Fully defined, practiced regularly, and automated
Metrics and Reporting
- How is vulnerability management effectiveness measured?
- (A) Not measured
- (B) Basic metrics tracked manually
- (C) Regular reports created manually
- (D) Automated reports with detailed metrics
- (E) Predictive metrics analyzed in real-time
- Do you generate reports on vulnerability management performance?
- (A) No reports generated
- (B) Generated on demand
- (C) Regular quarterly reports
- (D) Monthly reports
- (E) Real-time dashboards and continuous reporting
- How often are metrics and reports reviewed by stakeholders?
- (A) Rarely or never
- (B) Annually
- (C) Quarterly
- (D) Monthly
- (E) Continuously reviewed with real-time feedback
- Are security metrics shared with executives?
- (A) No sharing
- (B) On demand only
- (C) Shared semi-annually
- (D) Shared monthly
- (E) Continuously available and shared
Scoring Guide:
- Mostly A's: Level 1 - Ad Hoc Vulnerability Management
- Mostly B's: Level 2 - Basic Vulnerability Awareness
- Mostly C's: Level 3 - Consistent Vulnerability Management and Patch Coordination
- Mostly D's: Level 4 - Proactive and Automated Remediation
- Mostly E's: Level 5 - Predictive and Preemptive Vulnerability Management