Unfortunately, there are a multitude of threats facing your network, with malicious actors developing new ones all the time. Fortunately, there are also many approaches available to help you shore up your cyber defenses. One of the most effective methods is attack surface management (ASM).
Even among attack surface management tools, there are plenty of choices. That’s why it’s important to choose an ASM tool that suits your network. Below, we’ll explain attack surface management and why it’s vital for protecting your critical resources from threats.
Attack Surface Management Explained
Attack surface management is the continuous identification, analysis, assessment, and monitoring of an organization’s assets for potential vulnerabilities and attack vectors. As industries widely embrace digital transformation, most organizations have experienced a substantial expansion in their attack surfaces. In fact, research indicates that 67% of organizations have witnessed their cyber attack surface grow in the past 12 months.
Attack surface management looks at all internet-connected assets from a hacker’s point of view. This approach views threats as threat actors see them—opportunities to infiltrate networks and exploit resources.
Today, attack surfaces are likely to include on-premise assets, those hosted in the cloud, subsidiary assets, as well as those in third-party vendor environments. Each one increases an organization’s attack surface, so the organization must protect it to prevent data breaches or other cyberattacks.
Every asset is a potential intrusion point. This includes old, new, or external resources. That’s why 68% of organizations have faced a cyber attack due to an unknown or unmanaged internet-facing asset. That’s why continuous attack surface management is becoming an increasingly important weapon in an organization’s cybersecurity arsenal.
Attack Surface Management vs Vulnerability Management: What’s The Difference?
Aside from attack surface management (ASM), vulnerability management is another approach often taken by security teams to safeguard an organization’s resources. However, there are key differences between the two.
Attack surface management takes a holistic view of all an organization’s assets and how they connect. Analyzing potential paths an attacker might take to infiltrate an organization’s resources.
Vulnerability management, on the other hand, is part of a more traditional approach that checks only known assets. This leaves certain potential attack vectors open for exploitation by threat actors. Vulnerability management often focuses on specific assets or subsections of a network, with software prioritized over hardware vulnerabilities.
Vulnerability management is good at finding threats like system misconfigurations, unpatched software, or unencrypted data. However, it often struggles to assess how assets connect in the larger cyber attack surface. Rather than viewing attack surface management and vulnerability management as alternatives, people should see them as complementary approaches.
ASM solutions broaden vulnerability management by providing insights into internet-facing assets. These assets are crucial in today’s rapidly changing threat environment.
The Main Features Of Attack Surface Management
Attack surface management protects many assets from changing threats. It uses several functions to do this. Key features of an attack surface management platform include:
- Continuous scanning. The first phase of cyber attack surface management involves identifying and mapping all an organization’s digital assets — both internal and external. For complete visibility, ASM platforms should also scan for unknown assets.
- Active Testing. As attack surfaces continually evolve, ASM strategies must employ continuous testing. Security teams should monitor assets in real-time and receive notifications of additions or changes to existing configurations.
- Understanding context. Organizations must contextualize risks in relation to other resources, as well as their risk profiles and compliance needs. For example, identified vulnerabilities may vary in priority depending on their potential impact.
- Prioritizing risks. Good ASM tools don’t just locate risks — they assess severity. For instance, an application vulnerability allowing access to sensitive databases would take priority over a minor misconfiguration. ASM platforms should score vulnerabilities based on criteria such as exploit history and remediation difficulty.
- Remediation. Attack surface management is not only about identifying threats but eliminating them. This can include patching software, introducing security controls, configuring firewalls, or removing obsolete assets. Effective remediation is both ongoing and validated.
The Modern Challenges Facing Attack Surface Management
With threat actors constantly developing new ways to infiltrate networks, attack surface management must adapt. Recent developments include:
- Shadow IT: The use of unauthorized devices or applications. 97% of cloud apps used by enterprises are shadow IT, representing additional attack vectors that need monitoring.
- Remote Work: Hybrid and remote practices often lead to non-centralized security measures, increasing the number of unmanaged assets.
- Alert Fatigue: Even with robust ASM solutions, security teams may struggle to prioritize alerts. Many people in a Cloud Security Alert Fatigue Report said they spend a lot of time on alerts. In fact, more than half of them spend over 20% of their time deciding which alerts to respond to.
Choosing The Right Attack Surface Management Platform
Ultimately, attack surface management platforms must balance covering an expanding attack surface with minimizing false positives. The best platforms employ AI to prioritize risks and accelerate remediation.
Agentless solutions reduce manual workloads for security teams without compromising defense. A hacker’s mindset and contextual understanding allow organizations to monitor assets continually, addressing only the most critical threats.
Adopting a modern, proactive approach to cyber attack surface management is essential. Use AI and ASM tools to enhance your cybersecurity measures, reduce risks, and stay ahead of threat actors.
