Attack Surface Management (1/2)- Lets learn about it - remember to Shift Left and Guard Right

The constant finding, inventorying, categorization, and monitoring of an organization's IT infrastructure is known as attack surface management. We need to care about the external Attack Surface Management and also make the decision quicker than a hacker

Let's talk from an Hackers Perspective:

"A hacker's mindset will always be to think in the dimension which the developer didn't think about. A hacker will always look for ways in which he can exploit the infrastructure and get into the infrastructure without leaving any traces that he was attacking and also the pattern of the attack to be unknown and also make sure that he gets the best out of it."

Maybe a data breach or sensitive data dangling on the internet that the company might have not seen, Maybe data being sold in the Dark market. - So now developers think about owning the security and also making the best version of the resources in the world of SDLC, AI, and Deep learning.

If you can think in the DevOps way.

In a nutshell, the objective is to identify an organization's Internet-facing assets. There are several ways to accomplish this. (but not restricted to many aspects so let's learn them)

Although the word may seem similar to asset management and discovery, ASM handles these and other security responsibilities from the viewpoint of an attacker. This guarantees that security extends to all IT assets vulnerable to attackers that are accessible from within an organization, as well as to assets on the internet and in the infrastructure of suppliers.

If we consider the complexity of today's digital world, we can start to comprehend the difficulties associated with managing the huge and hyper-dimensional attack surface for a modern organization. For starters, the corporate attack surface is always growing, and the threats that target it are continually changing their appearance and adapting to the most advanced network defenses. This makes it a genuinely difficult endeavor to get a handle on the enormous expanse of an organization's enterprise attack surface. Despite their best efforts, the majority of security leaders are only able to perceive a portion of the threats that their businesses face and are only aware of a small portion of the network's assets.

These concepts are included in ASM:

• assets that are safe or unsafe
• Known or hypothetical assets
• active or dormant assets in shadow IT
• devices both controlled and unmanaged
• hardware\software
• SaaS cloud resources and assets
• IoT device assets handled by vendors

Why corporations need to control their attack surfaces

Attack surface control

The following are some of the most important questions you should address while creating an attack surface management program:

• What are the specifics of our attack surface (our asset list, as well as its breadth, depth, and complexity)?
• Where are the places where we could be vulnerable to attack?
• How can we effectively defend against hacks and cyberattacks on our network?

Know what to safeguard

Criminals are always seeking methods to hack into businesses. They search for holes in websites, exposed cloud data servers, and unprotected systems that are directly connected to the Internet. The first control on the CIS Critical Controls List is to identify permitted and unauthorized devices on your network, however, most firms are rather slack about doing routine asset audits. Understanding the attack surface, or all of the ways that the infrastructure is exposed and open to attack is crucial for keeping the company secure. Then, you should give priority to operations that will assist reduce that attack surface.

Even for smaller businesses, there is a vast terrain of potential assault points. Its security must be ensured at all costs. However, attack surfaces are continuously shifting, particularly given how many assets are now spread via the cloud. The number of external assets and targets security teams must safeguard has expanded as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic and the surge of work-from-home opportunities. A lot of security teams never completely evaluate external attack surfaces because hackers are automating their reconnaissance tools.

Organizations must obtain total visibility and ongoing monitoring to eliminate or manage risks before attackers discover them to combat these problems.

Organizations can benefit from attack surface management in doing this.

How ASM disarms assailants

ASM shifts security considerations from a defense to an attacker mindset. Security teams are better able to prioritize different parts of the threat surface as a result.

Red teams and penetration testing give information about an attacker's perspective, although attacks and reconnaissance are often undertaken in a controlled setting or against a particular element of the IT infrastructure. Although still important, the growing and changing nature of most settings make it possible for assets to go untested and for vulnerabilities to go undetected.

For more than five years, shadow IT, for instance, has been considered to be a significant security issue. To mitigate hazards, it is crucial to get rid of these unidentified assets.

When vulnerabilities and exploits are made public, security teams must act quicker than attackers. This can only happen if the assault surface is continuously mapped out. By using ASM, businesses can immediately close any possible entry points, including exposed databases and APIs, unknown and orphaned apps, and shadow IT assets, therefore mitigating any risks that may occur.

Digital asset protection, identification, and categorization have traditionally been the focal points of security policies. These tasks are automated by ASM, which also protects assets that fall outside the purview of standard firewall, mapping, and endpoint protection policies. For the purpose of preventing security control failures and lowering the risk of data breaches, ASM products offer real-time attack surface analysis and vulnerability management.

• Finding assets and searching for potential assault routes include:
• faulty passwords
• difficulties with unpatched, out-of-date, or old software encryption
• misconfigurations

Characteristics of ASM tools

SaaS, cloud-based, and managed solutions are available as attack surface management options. By automatically identifying the external assets that attackers may access and comparing them to proprietary, open source, and commercial threat intelligence feeds, these tools and services can produce security ratings for an organization's overall security posture. Senior management, non-technical stakeholders, potential partners, and clients may all benefit from ASM reports.

The continuous monitoring capabilities of ASM products produce real-time data on the overall risk profile of the company as well as specific threats inside the infrastructure. Some ASM systems use APIs to let additional security products be integrated to search the dark web for credentials revealed in third-party data breaches. Other ASM tools examine the efficacy of the current security controls to aid in prioritizing by combining threat ratings with business value and impact. ASM solutions could also include helpful capabilities that let security teams keep track of changes in the attack surface and identify possible security gains from addressing a risk or combination of hazards.

Today's security teams need ongoing investment to make sure they have the knowledge and tools necessary to avoid and mitigate dangers. The attack surfaces on enterprises are enormous. Since ASM gives CIOs, CTOs, CISOs, and security teams the ability to monitor and lessen their attack surface, it is growing in popularity.

Now forget you have the best security Crew and then

Gain immediate awareness

Real-time visibility is an essential component of any attack surface management software due to the dynamic and extremely complicated nature of your attack surface and breach risk. You won't be able to handle danger if you can't see it. Additionally, if you depend solely on static assessment methods, you risk missing significant vulnerabilities as they emerge throughout your dynamic risk environment. To identify, track, and manage the assets that attackers target across your entire Internet, mobile, and cloud environments, it's crucial that you constantly monitor your attack surface.

Reduce the size of your "Attack Surface"

Like anything else, cybersecurity targets are tougher to strike the smaller they are. Here are 4 strategies for minimizing your attack surface:

• Reduce complexity
• Think about your weaknesses
• in charge of your endpoints
• Using analytics, segment your network and set priorities.

Key conclusions

Today's data leaks and hacks are frequently the results of simple security mistakes rather than highly technical exploits. Users and businesses may keep sensitive data organized, protected, and secure against theft and outside assaults by starting with proper cyber hygiene habits and measures.

Understanding your exposures is the first step in reducing your attack surface. The most prevalent cybersecurity threats that firms face today may be avoided by implementing a thorough program for identifying, controlling, and monitoring your attack surface.

Ideally, you will have systems in place that can detect and stop assaults in their tracks, real-time visibility across the whole risk landscape, and processes that enable prioritization so that the most important threats are removed first.