In this blog we explore the need for Attack Surface Management tools and how organizations can ensure they are choosing the right attack surface management vendors for their needs.
Digital Asset Protection With Attack Surface Management
Businesses are now operating in an environment where data and information is generated, stored, and accessed via the internet and the cloud. While this makes organizations more efficient and streamlined, giving employees a suite of tools and the ability to work wherever they want, an increased digital footprint opens them up to significant cybersecurity risks they may not know about.
With an increased digital footprint comes an attack surface that cybercriminals on the dark web can exploit. An attack surface can come in the form of applications, websites, networks, devices, and cloud infrastructure, all of which are being deployed by businesses every day. Through internet of things (IoT) devices and cloud infrastructure vulnerabilities appear, and unless they are being continuously tracked and monitored, cybercriminals will quickly look to exploit them.
Attack Surface Management (ASM) helps to reduce the risk of these vulnerabilities and attacks by verifying exposures across an organization. ASM tools provide security teams with the cybercriminals perspective, the visibility needed to ensure all entry points are secure, and a complete up-to-date inventory of all assets – including those that aren’t originally known to the organization.
These Attack Surface Management tools are essential because – for every unmonitored device, misconfigured cloud instance, or forgotten web application – organizations risk data breaches, operational disruptions, and regulatory non-compliance.
Organizations that actively monitor and manage their attack surface can:
- Quickly identify and mitigate vulnerabilities before they are exploited.
- Significantly reduce the risk of cyberattacks by limiting exposure of their infrastructure to cybercriminals.
- Improve compliance with security regulations by securing all of their assets.
Risks of unmanaged attack surfaces
Unmanaged attack surfaces pose significant risks to organizations, especially as threat actors are exploiting vulnerabilities faster than ever. The lack of visibility into potential entry points for cybercriminals not only makes it easier for attackers to compromise sensitive data without detection, but makes incident response and remediation a lot harder.
Examples of unmanaged attack surfaces and their risks:
Shadow IT and lack of visibility Shadow IT can come in the form of personal devices being connected to an organization’s network, data being stored in personal cloud accounts or off the network, or apps and software that have been downloaded without prior approval or knowledge by IT.
The risk of shadow IT is that without knowledge of these devices or software, IT and cyber security teams are unable to patch vulnerabilities, ensure they are correctly configured, and track incoming and outgoing dark web traffic. This could result in cyberattacks and exfiltration of data to the dark web without an organization knowing anything about it.
Poor patch management If software isn’t kept up to date or patched properly the risk of malware infections, ransomware attacks, unauthorized access, and potential loss of sensitive information increases. Cybercriminals can easily discover unpatched software because many vulnerabilities are publicly documented. This makes unpatched systems prime targets for exploitation.
Unsecured cloud environments Businesses are frequently moving to the cloud and while it brings a whole host of benefits, it also opens organizations up to cyberattacks, especially if their cloud environment is unsecured. Security teams must ensure that cloud environments have robust security solutions in place, such as encryption, firewalls, and intrusion detection systems, to protect data stored in the cloud. If proper configuration doesn’t happen or there aren’t strong authentication mechanisms in place the likelihood of an attack increases.
Third-party vendor risks As well as identifying and managing their own assets, organizations need to be aware of threats from third-parties such as suppliers and vendors. The threat from a supply chain is directly linked to the number of suppliers, which increases the number of potential attack entry points. A third-party attack can be a goldmine for cybercriminals, resulting in threat actors harvesting a lot of data, which will then go on to be sold or traded on dark web marketplaces.
All of these risks can be proactively managed and mitigated by organizations using Attack Surface Management tools. Continuous monitoring and discovery of a businesses external assets will identify cloud services, third-party tools, and shadow IT for risks of exploitation, plus flag where cyberattacks may have already happened and data has been exfiltrated to the dark web. All of this gives security teams the power to focus on what matters most, respond faster, and reduce the risk of an attack.
Attack Surface Management Software
For a business looking to manage, protect, and mitigate the risk of cyberattacks, what should they be looking for in best practice ASM tools?
Real time scanning and continuous asset discovery At the pace at which criminals are looking to exploit vulnerabilities, ASM tools that scan for new assets anything less than hourly can leave a business’s attack surface exposed between a vulnerability’s introduction and its detection. With hourly scanning security teams can close that gap, mitigating exposures faster than attacks can exploit them. This cadence is also better suited to the modern reality of organizations’ infrastructure, which is constantly in flux.
Automated risk prioritization Not all exposures are the same, so ASM tools should not only detect but also help security teams prioritize vulnerabilities. Risk prioritization means security teams can focus on the highest-priority threats first and stop large scale cyberattacks, while managing their resources better and preventing alert fatigue.
Read More: Attack Surface Management Tools: Choosing the Right Solution
