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In today’s digital landscape, organisations face increasing threats from cybercriminals looking to exploit vulnerabilities and gain unauthorised access to sensitive data. One key factor that separates organisations that fall victim to data breaches from those that don’t is their level of attack surface awareness. By understanding their attack surface – the potential entry points for cyber threats – organisations can better defend against a wide range of cyberattacks.
Attack surface management solutions play a crucial role in enhancing cybersecurity programs and minimising the risk of data breaches. In this article, we will explore the top features and capabilities that the best attack surface visibility software should possess, enabling organisations to maximise their cyber investment.
1. Internal and External Attack Surface Coverage
To achieve comprehensive attack surface coverage, organisations need to consider both internal and external IT assets. While conventional attack surface management tools focus primarily on external-facing assets, such as websites and servers, they often overlook security risks within an organisation’s internal IT infrastructure.
The best attack surface visibility software should provide Cyber Asset Attack Surface Management (CAASM), which encompasses the continuous monitoring of both internal and external endpoints and ecosystems. This includes APIs and tool integrations, firewalls, web applications, IoT devices, SaaS products, access controls, service providers, software misconfiguration, IP addresses, and domains/subdomains.
While comprehensive attack vector visibility is essential, it is important to note that it does not replace the need for penetration testing. Penetration tests simulate real-world cyberattacks and help identify potential vulnerabilities that may be missed by vulnerability scanning solutions. They can also reveal an organisation’s susceptibility to social engineering and phishing attacks.
2. Dark Web Monitoring
Comprehensive attack surface visibility goes beyond internal and external IT assets. One of the leading causes of data breaches is compromised credentials, which are often sold or shared on the dark web. To effectively mitigate this risk, organisations need an attack surface visibility tool that extends its monitoring capabilities to include the dark web.
Dark web monitoring involves continuously scanning dark web forums and marketplaces for compromised credentials that may belong to an organisation. By detecting and shutting down these compromised credentials before they can be exploited, organisations can significantly reduce the risk of data breaches.
3. Asset Inventory Tracking
Maintaining a comprehensive inventory of internal and external assets is crucial for effective attack surface management. As organisations expand their attack surface through the adoption of new security tools, digital solutions, and vendor relationships, tracking and managing these assets becomes increasingly challenging.
The ideal attack surface visibility software should offer real-time monitoring and asset discovery features. This includes IP address range monitoring, which helps mitigate the risk of unknown assets and shadow IT devices. By staying on top of their expanding attack surface, organisations can better protect against potential cyber threats.
4. Continuous Monitoring
Continuous attack surface monitoring is essential for staying aware of the evolving risk landscape and confirming the effectiveness of an organisation’s cyber risk management efforts. This is where security ratings come into play.
Security ratings provide an objective and unbiased quantification of an organisation’s security posture. By considering multiple attack vector categories, security ratings assign a score that represents an organisation’s security posture. Integrating security ratings with attack surface visibility allows organisations to automate the detection of emerging risks and prioritise remediation tasks accordingly.
By combining point-in-time assessments with security ratings, organisations can achieve real-time attack surface awareness. This enables them to proactively address security vulnerabilities and minimise the risk of data breaches.
In conclusion, maximising attack surface visibility is crucial for organisations looking to defend against cyber threats and prevent data breaches. By investing in the right attack surface visibility software, organisations can achieve comprehensive coverage of their internal and external attack surfaces, monitor the dark web for compromised credentials, track their asset inventory, and continuously monitor their security posture. With these capabilities in place, organisations can strengthen their cybersecurity programs and minimise the risk of falling victim to cyberattacks.
To learn more about how to enhance your organisation’s cybersecurity posture, visit https://www.opsimathy.co.uk.