What Is Attack Surface Management (ASM)?

Attack Surface Management (ASM) is the continuous process of discovering, inventorying, classifying, and monitoring an organization’s digital assets to minimize vulnerabilities and enhance overall cybersecurity.

Though devising the right security posture can be daunting for CISOs and IT administrators alike, a great framework for your posture can be seen through the lens of attack surface management (ASM).

An attack surface encompasses all the points where an attacker can attempt to enter or extract data from an environment or network. It includes all possible points of compromise within a network, such as endpoint hardware, applications, and even personnel, as well as third-party services that may connect to a network through APIs or other protocols.

The attack surface can be broken down into three primary categories: digital, physical, and human.

• Digital Attack Surface: This includes all software applications, networks, code, and servers that an organization uses. Websites, cloud services, and any externally facing service represent potential entry points.
• Physical Attack Surface: This involves the hardware and physical assets of an organization. Physical assets also include IoT devices and other connected hardware. Unauthorized access to physical locations, such as data centers or office spaces, can lead to security breaches.
• Human Attack Surface: The human element is often the weakest link in security. Social engineering attacks, phishing, and insider threats target personnel within the organization.

Understanding the full scope of an attack surface is essential for implementing robust security strategies. Organizations must continually assess and manage their attack surfaces to stay ahead of potential threats.

So what is attack surface management and why is it so vital in protecting an organization’s assets? ASM is critical for the following five reasons:

1. Asset Discovery and Vulnerability Identification

ASM helps in identifying all potential vulnerabilities within an organization’s IT infrastructure. By knowing where potential attack points exist, organizations can prioritize their security efforts accordingly.

2. Mitigating Risk

By understanding and managing the attack surface, organizations can significantly reduce the risk of cyberattacks. This proactive approach helps mitigate potential threats before they can be exploited.

3. Firewall Compliance and Industry Regulations

Internally, most organizations have internal firewall compliance rules and utilize firewall policy management tools to monitor changes in permissions and vulnerabilities in network access points. Externally, many industries are subject to stringent regulations regarding data security. ASM helps ensure compliance with these internal rules and industry regulations by maintaining a secure and controlled environment.

4. ROI

Addressing vulnerabilities proactively can be far more cost-efficient than dealing with the aftermath of a security breach. ASM helps in preventing costly incidents and reduces the potential for financial loss.

5. Advanced Security Posture

Continuous attack surface management can contribute to an overall stronger security posture. Organizations can respond swiftly to emerging threats and adapt their defenses dynamically.

Understanding different types of attack surfaces is crucial for comprehensive security management. They can be categorized as follows:

Digital Attack Surface

• Web Applications: Websites and online services are prime targets for attackers due to their accessibility.
• Network Infrastructure: Routers, switches, and firewalls that can be targeted for unauthorized access.
• Endpoints: Devices such as laptops, desktops, and mobile devices that connect to the network.

Physical Attack Surface

• Data Centers: Physical locations where servers and critical infrastructure are housed.
• Office Spaces: Locations where employees work, which can be targeted for physical breaches.
• Hardware Devices: Physical devices that can be tampered with to gain unauthorized network access.

Human Attack Surface

• Employees: Staff members who might fall victim to phishing attacks or social engineering.
• Third-Party Vendors: Partners or contractors who have access to the organization’s systems and data.

Effective ASM involves a range of functions designed to continuously monitor and secure the attack surface.

FireMon Vice President of Technology Alliances Tim Woods uses a bodyguard analogy to explain ASM functionality. If you’re protecting a dignitary, the first question you’d ask is “When and how do they arrive at a given location?” followed by, “How are they getting here, and who’s coming with them?”

“If the answer to any of those questions is ‘I don’t know,’ then the probability you being successful at protecting this person goes to almost zero,” Woods said. “If IT security professionals are being charged with protecting things that they don’t even know exist, and they don’t know where they live, they don’t know the value of the data, they don’t know how persistent they are, or if they’re ephemeral and so on.”

That’s where continuous discovery comes in.

ASM functions include:

• • Continuous Asset Discovery: Identifying all assets within the organization’s environment, including those that may be unknown or forgotten. This is a critical aspect of any attack surface management platform.
  • Inventory Management: Maintaining an accurate and dynamically updated inventory of all assets, including hardware, software, and network components.
  • Vulnerability Identification: Regularly scanning for vulnerabilities within the identified assets.
  • Threat Assessment: Gathering and analyzing information about potential threats and attackers targeting the organization.
  • Continuous Monitoring: Continuously monitoring the attack surface for atypical activity or signs of a breach and providing real-time alerts.
  • Remediation: Taking immediate action to patch identified vulnerabilities.

Discover why effective security management starts with asset discovery.

Despite its crucial importance to network security postures, ASM presents several challenges:

• • • Perpetual Change: The attack surface is constantly evolving with new technology, application updates, and changes in the organization’s infrastructure. Keeping up with these changes is a continuous challenge.
    • Resource Heavy: Effective ASM requires considerable resources, including expert personnel, time, and technology.
    • Integration with Existing Systems: Integrating ASM tools with existing security infrastructure can be complex and require significant effort.
    • False Positives: Excessive volumes of data and vulnerability alerts can lead to false positives, making it difficult to identify actual threats.

Running a successful attack surface assessment involves the following steps:

• • 1. Define Scope and Objectives: Clearly outline what the assessment will cover and what the desired outcomes are.
    2. Asset Discovery: Create a comprehensive inventory of all assets, including hardware, software, and network components.
    3. Vulnerability Scanning: Scan for known vulnerabilities in the identified assets.
    4. Risk Planning: Evaluate the potential impact and likelihood of each identified vulnerability.
    5. Remediation: Develop a plan to address and mitigate identified vulnerabilities.
    6. Continuous Monitoring: Employ continuous monitoring to detect and respond to new vulnerabilities as they occur. This is a core principle of continuous attack surface management.

Several tools can assist with effective ASM:

• • • Asset Discovery Tools: These tools aid in maintaining an accurate inventory of all assets.
    • Penetration Testing Tools: “Pen testing” tools help simulate attacks to identify weaknesses.
    • Threat Intelligence Platforms: These solutions provide insights into emerging threats.
    • Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Tools: SIEMs collect and analyze log data to identify potential security incidents.
    • Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) Tools: EDR solutions monitor endpoints for suspicious activity.

Many attack surface management companies offer these tools and platforms as part of their security offerings. Selecting the right attack surface management platform can substantially increase an organization’s ability to manage and secure its attack surface.

Reducing the attack surface involves several strategies:

• • • Limit Exposure: Minimize the number of externally facing services and applications to reduce potential entry points.
    • Patch Management: Regularly update and patch software to fix known vulnerabilities.
    • Network Segmentation: Divide the network into segments to contain potential breaches and limit the spread of attacks.
    • Network Access Controls: Implement strict access controls to ensure that only authorized employees can access sensitive systems and data.
    • Employee Training: Educate employees on security best practices and the latest threats to reduce the risk of human error.
    • Implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Use MFA to add an additional layer of security for accessing systems.
    • Continuous Monitoring: Continuously monitor and quickly action potential threats. This is fundamental to effective cyber attack surface management

Discover how FireMon can enhance your attack surface management. Request a demo today.