Turning CVEs into Dollars: Why DeRISK QVM Is the Missing Link in OT Vulnerability Management

Operational Technology (OT) networks face thousands of active vulnerabilities, and the amount raises every week. Traditional dashboards translate raw CVSS or EPSS scores into rainbow-colored heat maps, but when every square is red it’s impossible to know which fix actually matters to the business. The situation is further exacerbated in OT networks where patching may not be an option, or disrupting the underlying industrial process to implement the fix not always available.  

The Key questions are: 

• What Sites & Vulnerabilities should my organization  address to optimize reduction of Risk? 
• What Sites & Vulnerabilities should my organization address to optimize the use of scarce resources and budget? 

Scores can't answer those questions.

2. From Severity Scores to Value-at-Risk

DeRISK QVM (Quantified Vulnerability Management) reframes the conversation by asking one question: “How many dollars are at risk if we leave this CVE alone?” DeRISK QVM runs value-at-risk simulations at the portfolio, facility, or even zone level, tying every exploit path to financial impact considering CVEs, devices/roles, OT network topology and presence and maturity of cybersecurity controls. Just ten vulnerabilities in a given environment can equate to US $5 million of value at risk; remediating them can slash exposure 40 percent.

3. How DeRISK QVM Works under the Hood

1. 1. Data ingestion. DeRISK QVM pulls live telemetry from IDS and vulnerability scanners, firewall rules to filter non-externally accessible CVEs, and auto-maps every CVE to MITRE ATT&CK techniques with DeNexus’ proprietary GenAI assistance. 
   2. Contextual weighting. It factors CVSS, EPSS, impacted devices, network topology, firewall rules, and existing controls—turning static scores into dynamic likelihoods. 
   3. Risk calculation. A Monte-Carlo engine runs billions of attack simulations to translate each vulnerability into probabilistic financial loss. 
   4. Actionable outputs. The result is a ranked list showing exactly how many dollars you reclaim by addressing each CVE. 
      
      

4. Case Study: 15 Critical-Infrastructure Sites in the U.S. 

In this anonymized portfolio, just 4 vulnerabilities accounted for 82.7 percent of total cyber risk, and 5 facilities concentrated 70 percent of potential loss. By focusing manpower and maintenance windows on that short list, the operator reclaimed hundreds of thousands of dollars in risk reduction. 

One surprise from the study: the single riskiest vulnerability in the estate carried a CVSS of only 3.4. In isolation, it looked low-severity; in the context of a flat OT network segment tied to revenue-critical assets, it was a ticking six-figure time bomb. DeRISK QVM surfaces these hidden risks while downgrading headline-grabbing CVEs that pose little real-world threat. 

• Resource optimization. Patch the right 2 percent of vulnerabilities instead of the easy 20 percent. 
• Financial language. Translate SOC findings into VaR curves the CFO understands. 
• Insurance leverage. Demonstrate quantifiable risk reduction and negotiate better cyber-coverage terms. 
• Continuous assurance. As new CVEs emerge, see instantly whether they materially affect your dollar-at-risk profile. 

Heat-map scores were fine for yesterday’s compliance checklists. Today’s boards want hard numbers. By converting raw CVE data into dollars at stake, DeRISK QVM delivers a compass, not just another dashboard. The result: fewer firefights, smarter budgets, resources allocation optimization, and a security story executives can read in the language of business value. 

Ready to find the four CVEs that matter in your environment? Learn more at DeNexus.io. 

If you want to learn more, get in touch with our team, or understand how the above is put to use to quantify and manage cyber risks at 250+ industrial sites monitored by DeNexus, you can contact us at https://www.denexus.io/contact.