Is My Asset Inventory Truly Complete?

“You can’t protect what you can’t see” is an oft used phrase in cybersecurity circles. It means that if you don’t know what’s on your network, you’re more vulnerable to security vulnerabilities resulting from unpatched devices and network equipment without the latest security protections.

While many people think about unmanaged Internet of Things (IoT) and operational technology (OT) devices and equipment rather than laptops and server infrastructure when considering unknown items on the network, it’s common for the latter to drop off the radar in enterprise environments, especially as more offices engage in BYOD programs. Even if there are asset management solutions deployed, it’s possible to have an IT asset visibility issue, not because your devices and systems are undetectable, but because you don’t have a reliable inventory that offers a complete and easily queried overview of network assets.

The Fragmented Reality of Asset Inventories

Most IT teams deploy several solutions and tools that collect and analyse information about devices and other network assets. Examples include:

• IT Asset Management (ITAM) software with an inventory of your assets, including purchase dates and serial numbers.
• A Configuration Management Database (CMDB) for storing data more specific about asset configuration details.
• An Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) monitoring files and operating systems on endpoint devices to detect malware or other malicious activity.

Utilising multiples solutions to collect and collate asset data can lead to fragmented knowledge about your environment. Additionally, when different tools display conflicting information, it can be hard to determine which data source is reliable.

One of the most significant indications of an IT device visibility issue is a disjointed, incomplete asset inventory. According to a survey by Armis, cybersecurity professionals consider asset visibility the most significant challenge their organisations face. Furthermore, their research highlights that just half of all companies know the true number of assets linked to their corporate networks.

Not having an accurate picture of what is on the network leads to inefficiencies and cybersecurity gaps. Issues that flow from poor asset knowledge include:

?Asset information errors — Manual data collection can lead to an inability to plan and scale due to unreliable and time-consuming manual processes for the collection of asset data.

• ?Underutilisation of business assets — Poor understanding asset information can leave valuable resources on the table. Having an accurate picture of what’s deployed and used can eliminate unused devices and software licenses, making cybersecurity easier and cutting costs.
• ?Inaccurate reporting — Outdated, unreliable information when making critical decisions can lead to expensive mistakes.
• ?Redundant device purchases — Not knowing what you already have in your organisation can lead to the purchase of unnecessary assets.
• Increased exposure to risks — Not having a complete picture of what’s on the network means you can’t completely understand your cyber-attack surface or address vulnerabilities.

Why You Need a Comprehensive Asset Picture

By maintaining a thorough record of all your business assets, you can view the current status and locations of assets in real-time. Device usage data provides valuable insights for effective cybersecurity asset management, enabling inventory tracking and resource allocation optimisation.

An accurate asset picture can be beneficial by allowing you to:

• ?Assess device usage and make data-driven procurement decisions to prevent equipment shortages.
• Better understand when to decommission slow or outdated devices that are impacting employee productivity.
• Discover if a device is not used much and investigate if it’s because of a lack of demand or malfunction.
• Reduce technical debt by identifying assets that are costly to support and then make plans to address the debt.
• Ensure devices are updated with the latest security patches and endpoint agents are correctly deployed.

The last point above leads to a broader point about managing the IT surface that cyber attackers can probe and attack. To enhance cybersecurity, it’s essential to manage the attack surface and pinpoint gaps such as missing endpoint security agent deployments or devices without the latest security updates.

Build a Complete Picture of Your IT Assets

To achieve comprehensive visibility of your IT assets, it’s important to have a platform that seamlessly integrates with your current tools and consolidates information from various sources into a single place. This includes continuous discovery of new assets, a dependable inventory, and real-time assessments utilising asset intelligence and threat landscape analysis.

The?Armis Asset Intelligence & Security Platform?addresses the fragmentation and incomplete information issues seen with most asset-tracking solutions. It seamlessly integrates with common security, network, and ticketing systems, streamlining the process of addressing critical issues and ensuring the focus is on remediation and not discovery. The platform enables organisations to gain complete visibility into every asset in their environment. Organisations using the Armis Asset Intelligence and Security Platform have uncovered five times more connected assets than they previously knew about.?

Generating a list of your enterprise devices is not enough. You also need contextual information to gain insight into what each of those devices is doing and whether its behavior is healthy. For example:

• Where are your devices, and when were they last seen?
• Are they vulnerable?
• Do their manufacturers still support them?
• Are there security patches available?
• How often are they being used, and by whom?

Addressing these questions enables organisations to better manage their digital assets, and Armis delivers the answers you need.

Armis simplifies the asset data collection process by gathering information about each device from your current tools. The data is then combined, deduplicated, and contextualized to provide a single, accurate source of information. This is crucial for achieving complete visibility of your IT assets and strengthening your security posture.

Ready to learn more?

Visit the Armis?Platform website?to take a deeper dive into the solution. Learn more about MSP options for Armis deployment with the Armis?Partner Experience Program (APEX)?

Talk to Renaissance about how to deliver Armis asset discovery and analysis for your Ireland-based clients. Or contact us via the?contact page?