Attack surface analysis is the process of identifying, cataloging, and evaluating all the points where an attacker could penetrate, extract data from, or cause damage to an environment. It involves an assessment of both the physical and digital aspects of an organization's environment that could potentially be exploited by threat actors.
By conducting attack surface analysis, organizations can understand the various ways an attacker could gain access to a system, and develop effective strategies to protect against security weaknesses.
This is part of a series of articles about attack surface management.
Here are a few reasons attack surface analysis is critical to your cybersecurity strategy:
The digital attack surface encompasses software, and computing resources within an organization's IT environment that can be targeted by cyber threats. This includes servers, applications, databases, cloud services, and any other digital assets. Vulnerabilities in these areas, such as unpatched software or misconfigured systems, can be exploited by attackers to gain unauthorized access, disrupt operations, or steal sensitive data.
In contrast, the physical attack surface involves all tangible components that can be accessed and exploited in the physical world. This includes workstations, servers, network devices, and even facilities where hardware is stored. Physical security controls, such as locks, surveillance systems, and access controls, are essential to protect against physical tampering, theft, or sabotage. Ensuring robust physical security measures complements digital defenses and provides a comprehensive approach to securing an organization's overall environment.
The internal attack surface consists of all potential vulnerabilities and points of entry within an organization’s internal network. This includes employee workstations, internal applications, intranets, and other resources accessible only within the organization’s firewall. Internal threats can arise from insider threats, misconfigurations, or compromised internal devices. Monitoring internal network traffic and implementing strong access controls are crucial for minimizing risks associated with internal vulnerabilities.
The external attack surface refers to all external-facing components that can be accessed over the internet or other external networks. This includes websites, email servers, VPN gateways, and cloud services. These components are often targeted by external threat actors looking to exploit publicly accessible services and applications. Regularly updating and patching external-facing systems, using web application firewalls (WAFs), and conducting external penetration tests are key practices for securing the external attack surface.
Related content: Read our guide to attack surface discovery.
Rob Gurzeev, CEO and Co-Founder of CyCognito, has led the development of offensive security solutions for both the private sector and intelligence agencies.
In my experience, here are tips that can help you better execute and optimize attack surface analysis:
Summary: It’s important to remember that effective attack surface analysis involves integrating behavioral analytics, zero trust principles, continuous risk scoring, and monitoring shadow IT, while addressing third-party risks and unifying physical and digital security strategies.
Access the GigaOm Radar for Attack Surface Management 2025 to get an overview of the available ASM solutions, identify leading offerings, and evaluate the best solution for you.
The process of analyzing an organization’s attack surface typically includes the following steps.
The first step is identifying all assets within an organization's network. This includes both hardware and software assets, such as servers, workstations, network devices, applications, and data repositories. The goal is to create a complete and accurate inventory of everything that needs to be protected, which serves as the foundation for further analysis.
This step often involves the use of automated tools to scan networks for devices and applications, ensuring that even transient or previously unknown assets are accounted for.
Threat modeling is a structured approach for identifying and prioritizing potential threats to a system. It involves analyzing an organization's assets, the potential adversaries that might target them, and the attack vectors through which they could be compromised.
This step helps in understanding the risks associated with different parts of the attack surface and guides the prioritization of security efforts. Effective threat modeling requires a deep understanding of the organization's business context, the value of different assets, and the latest threat intelligence.
Scanning and assessment are critical for identifying security weaknesses within the attack surface. This step involves the use of automated tools to scan for known vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and security gaps in hardware, software, and networks.
Assessment might also include penetration testing, where security experts simulate attacks to test the effectiveness of security measures. The results from scanning and assessment activities provide detailed insights into potential security issues that need to be addressed.
Prioritization involves ranking vulnerabilities and threats identified during the scanning and assessment phase based on their potential impact and likelihood of exploitation. This step helps organizations focus their resources on addressing the most critical risks first. Factors to consider when prioritizing include the severity of the vulnerability, the value of the affected asset, and the potential consequences of an exploit.
Effective prioritization requires collaboration between security teams, business units, and IT departments to understand the context and impact of each vulnerability. By focusing on high-priority risks, organizations can allocate their resources more efficiently and reduce the overall attack surface more effectively.
Remediation involves taking action to address the vulnerabilities and weaknesses identified during the scanning and assessment phase. This can include applying patches, configuring security settings, changing network architectures, and implementing new security controls.
Remediation is critical for reducing the attack surface and mitigating risks. It requires coordination across different teams and departments to ensure that vulnerabilities are addressed promptly and effectively without impacting business operations.
Monitoring and reporting ensure continuous visibility into the attack surface and the effectiveness of security measures. Monitoring involves the use of security information and event management (SIEM) systems, intrusion detection systems (IDS), and other monitoring tools to detect and alert on suspicious activities.
Regular reporting on security incidents, vulnerabilities, and remediation efforts is essential for keeping stakeholders informed and making data-driven decisions about security priorities.
Organizations can use technology to streamline the attack surface analysis process and ensure that security controls remain effective over time. Automation can help in regularly scanning for vulnerabilities, managing assets, and enforcing security policies.
Continuous validation involves regularly testing security measures to ensure they are functioning as intended and adapting to new threats. This approach helps organizations stay ahead of attackers by ensuring that their security posture evolves in response to changing threats.
Here are some best practices to ensure a thorough and accurate attack surface analysis.
Least privilege is a security principle that involves granting users and systems the minimum levels of access—or permissions—needed to perform their functions. This approach significantly reduces the attack surface by limiting the potential for unauthorized access to sensitive information and systems.
To effectively implement least privilege access control, organizations should:
Managing risks related to third parties is critical in reducing the attack surface that external entities might introduce to an organization. Vendors, contractors, and partners can all expand an organization's attack surface if their access to systems is not properly managed and monitored.
Effective third-party risk management involves:
Threat intelligence involves gathering, analyzing, and applying information about existing and emerging threats to improve security decision-making. By understanding the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) of attackers, organizations can enhance their ability to detect and prevent attacks.
Key aspects of using threat intelligence effectively include:
Attack surface management tools are useful for continuously discovering, assessing, and securing all known and unknown assets within an organization's environment. These tools automate the process of identifying vulnerabilities and misconfigurations that could be exploited by attackers.
Key benefits of automated tools include:
The CyCognito platform addresses today’s exposure management requirements by taking an automated multi-faceted approach in identifying and remediating critical issues based on their business impact, rather than focusing on the generic severity of the threat alone. To do this you need a platform that is continuously monitoring the attack surface for changes and provides intelligent prioritization that incorporates organizations context.
The CyCognito platform addresses today’s vulnerability management requirements by:
Learn more about the Cycognito Attack Surface Management Platform.
Access the GigaOm Radar for Attack Surface Management 2025 to get an overview of the available ASM solutions, identify leading offerings, and evaluate the best solution for you.