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Visibility of your entire attack surface, particularly the unknown, abandoned and unmanaged assets that attackers seek as easy points of entry
Understanding the business relevance of each asset based on the type of business data stored on the asset and the business functions supported by the applications on the asset
Knowing which group in your organization owns the asset, what IT environments it is part of, and whether it is part of a partner or third-party network
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Attack Surface Visibility
See Exactly What Attackers See
ATTACK SURFACE VISIBILITY
The term “attack surface” is sometimes defined as the collection of ways an organization can be breached. But that is really just the sum of your organization’s attack vectors.
A better definition is: Your attack surface is all of your attacker-exposed IT assets, whether secure or vulnerable, known and unknown, wherever they are: on-premises, in the cloud, in third-party or partner environments, or in the networks of your subsidiaries. That’s a better definition of “attack surface” because organizations benefit from having an understanding and visibility into their entire IT ecosystem that includes all of their network interconnectivity.
One of the most critical security issues today is the fact that IT and security teams don't know where all of their organization’s digital infrastructure and assets are, or whether they’re fully protected. This ‘awareness gap’ is called shadow risk; it’s a major problem, since unknown and unmanaged assets are often the easiest points of entry for attackers. Organizations must expose their shadow risk by mapping and assessing their full attack surface.
The need for attack surface analysis and management is universally recognized by security practitioners and vendors, but a critical point that may not be explicitly called out is that managing your attack surface isn’t something you should start doing only after you have implemented your security stack. Instead, it must be a foundational step that guides your security program and resource investments.
What is an attack surface?
Learn about an attack surface and other industry terms in our glossary.
Suggested Terms:
"Digital risk and digital trust are dynamic and vary over time based on context. Thus, risk is calculated for vulnerability management on a continuous basis to calculate the risk exposure of an organization. For example, a vulnerability may not be a significant risk today, but it can materialize into a severe risk to an organization overnight. If a continuous risk assessment is not deployed, the organization will miss addressing the risk, resulting in fatal consequences."
Gartner, Implement a Risk-Based Approach to Vulnerability Management
Prateek Bhajanka, Craig Lawson, ID: G00356414, Published: 21 August 2018
Effective Attack Surface Management Requirements
Visibility of your entire attack surface, particularly the unknown, abandoned and unmanaged assets that attackers seek as easy points of entry
Understanding the business relevance of each asset based on the type of business data stored on the asset and the business functions supported by the applications on the asset
Knowing which group in your organization owns the asset, what IT environments it is part of, and whether it is part of a partner or third-party network
Identification and prioritization of potential attack vectors in your attack surface so you know where your team should focus their efforts
Continuous security monitoring to maintain the full and current view of your attack surface
Attack Surface Reduction is the Wrong Goal
Many authors providing advice on attack surface management use the term “attack surface reduction” and offer tips for reducing the size of an organization’s attack surface. What’s implied in that approach is that the attack surface is being defined as the sum of vulnerabilities, whereas a better approach is to define the attack surface expansively as the collection of all the assets associated with an organization, whether currently deemed vulnerable or not.
Thus, your goal is not to reduce your attack surface but to reduce the attack vectors in your attack surface, beginning with those that pose the greatest risk to your organization.