Our AI strategy for preemptive security
Organizations are becoming increasingly worried about the expanding attack surface and how to safeguard it as digital perimeters constantly grow and change. CISOs, security teams, and IT leaders are striving to secure the evolving attack surface by systematically mapping their digital assets, and running scans to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
Attackers are continuously attempting to find a weakness or entry point in one of the many pieces that make up your internet-facing perimeter. Any one of those digital assets may have vulnerabilities that a threat actor can exploit which could lead to extracting data.
The attack surface refers to the sum of all possible security exposures that an attacker could use as an entry point to penetrate a system or network. They are hyper-dimensional, constantly changing, and can grow rapidly, making them notoriously difficult to manage. The larger the attack surface, the more opportunities an attacker has to find and exploit vulnerabilities.
Due to the cumbersome nature of the attack surface, the role of CISOs has become one of the toughest and most demanding in the business world. In fact, nearly 80% of senior security and IT leaders lack confidence in their cyber security posture.
Any systems or networks that hold and/or access sensitive and/or privileged information must be thoroughly inspected for security weaknesses. Below we look at what an attack surface includes:
This refers to the total vulnerabilities on the hardware and software: everything outside of the firewall where internet-facing assets such as websites, code, ports, email servers, and mobile applications are located. External digital assets can be known or unknown to you, and a common issue is the presence of shadow IT which can pose considerable risk to your security posture.
This refers to endpoint devices like mobiles, desktop systems, or USB ports for example. As we move towards an increasingly digital future, businesses are using a wider variety of devices and in higher volume, providing more opportunities for an attacker to gain access to sensitive data and cause a ransomware attack.
People are part of the attack surface too. This is the human attack surface. Employees must understand their IT environments and be aware of potential dangers. Human error is one of the most common causes of data breaches today, with social engineering attacks like phishing being one of the most prevalent.
An attack vector is the specific route an attacker uses to get in. Using these pathways, an attacker can bypass access controls, exploit a weakness, and extract data from an environment they were never authorized to reach.
The two terms are often used interchangeably, and they are not the same thing.
Your attack surface is the whole exposed area: every server, endpoint, API, cloud workload, employee inbox, and physical port an attacker could target. An attack vector is the specific route an attacker actually takes, such as a phishing email, a set of stolen credentials, an unpatched software flaw, or a misconfigured storage bucket.
One way to hold the distinction: the attack surface is every door and window on the building. The attack vector is the one window the intruder chooses to climb through.
The practical difference matters for defense. You reduce your attack surface by removing exposure, decommissioning unused systems, closing ports, and cutting shadow IT. You close attack vectors by patching, enforcing multi-factor authentication, and training people to spot social engineering.
The goal of attack surface analysis is to identify the assets in your digital perimeter that need to be examined and tested for security vulnerabilities. Mapping your attack surface using attack surface discovery visualizes the assets that comprise your digital perimeter. This involves using asset discovery tools to identify your known and unknown internet-facing assets and build an accurate inventory.
Attack surface analysis helps IT and security teams to identify immediate and potential future security weaknesses. Once the initial mapping and visualization phase is completed, steps can be put in place to mitigate identified vulnerabilities. Typically this requires a risk assessment which can be prioritized by asset criticality. Using penetration testing or vulnerability scanning will provide a more granular list of areas to remediate.
Reducing your attack surface starts with the inventory, then removes what does not need to be exposed. This has become a universal concern for many CISOs and IT leaders, irrespective of their size or sector. Real-time end-to-end visibility of the evolving external attack surface provides a bird’s-eye view of your digital ecosystem, allowing for better risk-detection and response. So it is fast becoming a necessity to help reduce your attack surfaces.
The aim is to reduce the number of exposures and entry points that carry security risk. It’s an ongoing challenge that forms part of any modern vulnerability management process.
Attack surface management (ASM) tools continuously discover and monitor your exposed assets, and track the vulnerabilities in the systems that store, transmit, or process your data.
It enables organizations to map, track, understand and analyze their threat landscape, empowering them to think like an attacker. ASM provides optimum security coverage, providing insights on:
Visibility (and analysis) of your threat landscape is not only important but necessary for resilience against today’s threats. The internet is everywhere now, and so is the threat of attack. Security strategies become meaningless if you aren’t aware of your precise vulnerabilities making ASM one of the best security practices across the board.
Knowing what you expose is the foundation of cyber resilience. You cannot defend an asset you have not inventoried, and you cannot prioritize risk across an estate you cannot see. By being aware of the vulnerabilities and implementing appropriate security measures, one can effectively reduce the risk of unauthorized access and potential breaches. Stay proactive, follow best practices, and continuously educate yourself to stay one step ahead of potential threats.
A solution like ASM will empower you to take the reins and reform your cyber security strategy, while helping you keep pace with changing data security standards.
It is sometimes called the threat surface or the exposure surface. Attack surface is the term used in the NIST glossary and in most vendor documentation.
Open network ports, running services, USB and other physical ports, installed browser extensions, unpatched applications, remote access tools, and the user account itself.
Inventory what you actually have, decommission systems nobody owns, close unused ports and services, apply least privilege, patch on a schedule, and keep testing for what the inventory missed.
Your attack surface is what you expose. The threat landscape is who is trying to exploit it and what techniques they are currently using. You control the first directly and the second not at all.