Virtual patching is an IT security control that can be applied when instead of applying a security patch, additional measures are applied to mitigate the risk of not applying this patch.
The reasons why a patch is not applied could be the following:
- System does not receive support any longer
- The resources to update or patch the system cannot be afforded by its owner
In any case, it is generally safer to update the system with the corresponding patch rather than adding a virtual patch.