An attack surface includes all the open or insecure digital getaways that can be used by cyber attackers to gain access to a company’s assets. Today all digital assets are connected so there are numerous entry points available to the attackers. Thus ASM has gained a prominent place in digital defense today.
2. An attack surface includes all the open or insecure digital getaways that can be used
by cyber attackers to gain access to a company’s assets. Today all digital assets are
connected so there are numerous entry points available to the attackers. Thus ASM
EXTERNAL ATTACK
SURFACE
3. Attack surface management has a
distinctive approach i.e. It looks at
asset management through the
attacker's perspective. The IT
infrastructure of a company is
discovered, classified, and monitored
continuously with the help of ASM.
Apart from the direct assets of the
company, ASM also takes into its
purview the assets that are owned by
third parties like cloud providers,
contractors.
EXTERNAL ATTACK
SURFACE
MANAGEMENT
4. An attack surface includes the
following
• Assets
Secure or insecure
known or unknown
Active or inactive
Managed by vendors
• Shadow IT
• Hardware
• Managed and unmanaged devices
• Software
• IoT devices
• SaaS
• Cloud assets and services
5. Attack surface monitoring reduces risks that can
arise from some factors mentioned below:
• Software that is outdated or vulnerable
• Omissions or mistakes by employees or third
parties like data leaks
• Unknown OSS or open-source software
• Infringement of intellectual property
• Large scale or targeted attacks on an industry
6. We also have to understand that attack surfaces constantly keep changing
especially since the digital assets are distributed across the cloud.
With the pandemic hitting the normal working of organizations and work from
home increasing among employees, the assets are more vulnerable and there are
more entry points than before. The attackers always plan a step ahead so the
external attack surface management needs to be evaluated and protected on a
steady basis, this can be done only by ASM.
7. Therefore as the attack surfaces
increase with the development of IoT,
faster networks, and hybrid cloud
computing, there is a prominent need
for a proactive approach that includes
ASM
