Modern organizations must expand their networks to accommodate new applications and users, expanding their attack surface. This empowers hackers to infiltrate corporate cloud environments and access valuable company data. Businesses invest in attack surface management (ASM) strategies, which proactively monitor their system’s vulnerable network entry points to prevent costly data losses and identify and prevent these attacks.
Due to the market growth of attack surface assessment technologies, managers now have many choices for the ASM tools that will best protect their business. To narrow the field, businesses should look for these three technologies in their prospective security solutions.
Cyber Asset Attack Surface Management (CAASM)
A CAASM solution is designed to help organizations gain visibility over their growing networks, update their asset inventories in real-time, and deploy identity and access management systems (IAM) to mitigate risks in their attack surface.
IAM systems secure a business’s resources and data by adding layers of authentication to vulnerable network entry points. The significance of IAM solutions in modern businesses has escalated with the rising demand for remote and hybrid work models and the integration of IoT devices.
Businesses now manage multi-cloud networks with a broadening attack surface that hackers can access remotely using outdated or unsecured credentials. CAASM solutions help managers mitigate this risk by deploying IAM processes and other security controls. This leads to numerous security benefits, including:
- Empowering management to define access privileges
- Controlling user permissions in a multi-cloud network
- Automating user provisioning and de-provisioning
- Enabling multi-factor user authentication
- Accessing automatic report generation
Equipped with CAASM technologies, businesses can address the security needs of their growing attack surface by authenticating and authorizing users regardless of location.
External Attack Surface Management (EASM)
External attack surface management technologies focus on asset visibility for a business’s external servers, software applications, and remote credentials. This includes email and web security, which many companies with a rapidly expanding digital infrastructure leave vulnerable to web-based attacks.
Web vulnerability assessments can identify entry points in an email server’s attack surface. Once identified, web application firewalls can be deployed to protect vulnerable areas. SSL introspection, another web security feature, can detect and prevent potential threats hidden in encrypted connections.
Businesses use EASM solutions to continuously monitor their web applications, including email accounts and websites, to detect and respond to security vulnerabilities. By maximizing external network visibility, network administrators can set access rules for each application, protecting sensitive data based on the network’s specific needs.
Configuring and securing email and website infrastructure becomes more significant as businesses expand their eCommerce services and collect more customer information. These processes increase the network’s attack surface area, leading to more potential attack vectors for hackers to exploit.
Digital Risk Protection Service (DRPS)
A digital risk protection service (DRPS) is an attack surface assessment technology that focuses on threat detection within the business’s on-site network. Businesses leverage DRPS solutions to address their growing security needs as they scale their operations to accommodate more network users, customer accounts, web applications, and more.
In-house risk prevention at this scale is cost and labor-intensive, which is why businesses turn to DRPS technologies to protect their external-facing IT assets with four important processes:
- Mapping the attack surface: DRPS technologies assess a network’s threat potential by analyzing and logging the business’s out-facing network surfaces to give the system a complete picture of the attack vulnerabilities.
- Monitoring data sources: Modern businesses face cybersecurity threats from numerous data sources, even those not directly connected to their operations. Third-party applications used by their clients or suppliers, social media accounts, and support channels can pose potential threats when unprotected.
- Managing intelligence workflows: Digital risk protection establishes that external-facing data flows are managed by threat priority, which can change as the business scales its operations and increases its attack surface.
- Mitigating risks: DRPS technologies can automate leak detection and confinement procedures to take the strain off in-house security teams. Exhaustive technology solutions allow businesses to prioritize important risks to their attack surfaces and continuously update protocols to match the demands of new threats.
Contact an Experienced Cybersecurity Firm for an Advanced Attack Surface Assessment
Modern businesses are responsible for assessing and monitoring threats to their external-facing IT assets to protect their client, employee, customer, and operational data. Hackers have developed new and creative ways to infiltrate business networks by exploiting unsecured attack vectors, leading to a growing need for businesses to adopt new technologies and strategies that protect their growing networks from harm.
Regardless of the attack surface assessment technologies deployed, an experienced cybersecurity firm can help companies establish, manage, and secure their networks at any scale.
Contact our team at Advantage.Tech today for custom network solutions that protect your valuable IT assets from the latest threats.
