Due to our digital age, businesses have more attack surfaces than ever to worry about. This makes way for a lot of entry points, such as devices, cloud apps, APIs, and more. While there’s no argument that digital tools have benefited the workplace, it has also expanded the risk for cyber attacks.
The topic gets even deeper when you consider the growth of cloud adoption on a global scale. Unfortunately, traditional security architecture isn’t going to help you here, which calls for a refined approach to thorough network security.
You’ll find many angles to attack surface management tools, as it comes with layers from policy, hardware, and the list goes on. For this article, you’re gaining a better understanding of attack surface monitoring (ASM) and why it’s essential for your business.
Understanding Your Attack Surfaces
It’s important to start off by understanding that attack surfaces are split between internal and external components. An example of internal would be behind your firewall hardware, and external along the lines of public-facing surfaces.
Here are a few quick examples of what that might look like:
- External: APIs, DNS, websites, and business assets that can be accessed over the internet.
- Internal: Employee devices, servers, and internal networks – generally exploited through lateral movement or phishing attempts
A core part of your attack surface management solutions, ASM security is a must, not something that should be debated. There may have been a time when this wasn’t as viable, but our digital landscape says otherwise.
How Attack Surfaces Have Expanded
Seeing how attack surfaces have expanded over time is pretty simple when you consider the number of digital tools you use for business operations. Hybrid cloud environments are increasingly common, as well as IoT devices, SaaS platforms, and what’s needed for remote work.
The traditional idea of a network perimeter is long gone, which has made effective ASM more challenging as things evolve. Another thought-provoking angle is the use of third-party integrations.
While these aren’t always a necessity, they’re definitely commonplace. Benefits aside, this also opens up the potential for more unmanaged risks, without the visibility and internal control from your IT department. Whether it’s APIs, unvetted tools, or outdated applications, all of these can be an easy access point for attackers.
Attack Surface Monitoring in Action
Keeping an eye on lateral movement is a big focus point here. To avoid confusion, lateral movement pertains to the process of hackers moving across layers of your network. For many attempts, this is in hopes of gaining access to other connected systems and escalating their network privileges.
The list below offers some insight into what effective ASM security looks like:
- Identifies lateral movement by monitoring connected assets
- Utilizes real-time scanning, endpoint monitoring, and behavior analytics for rapid response
- Delivers continuous visibility across internal and external environments
- Limits potential damage by identifying threats before they can get too deep in lateral movement
Remember that this is just one angle to the whole of your attack surface management. Nevertheless, if you don’t have proper monitoring in place, threats can get out of hand quicker than you think. Firewall and network protection is a dense topic, and ASM is one of many crucial practices in ensuring company data stays under wraps.
ASM with Network Firewall Protection
If you want to accomplish effective, layered security for your network, you’ll want to approach this from several angles. Whereas firewalls control traffic on the network and assist in blocking threats, ASM focuses on real-time vulnerabilities.
With the integration of next-gen firewalls (NGFWs), your network benefits from advanced features like deep packet inspection, app-level filtering, and a lot more. You also want to take zero-trust models into account. Commonly supported by today’s NGFWs, this guarantees no device or individual user is trusted on the network by default.
Even with this kind of tech in play, ASM hones in on at-risk assets and any changes happening across your network. This works to make the firewall’s job more effective through contextual security policies and a more dynamic approach to the network overall. The team of ASM and firewalls is just one of many examples as to why multi-layered network security is crucial.
Let’s Wrap Up
For those wondering how they should approach ASM for their own business, the focus should be on visibility and agility. Once again, you need layered security solutions to pull this off, such as attack surface management tools, ASM strategy, and NGFWs.
Implementation of ASM should start with asset discovery, in addition to risk prioritization and real-time monitoring. If you’d like to learn more about ASM and how to integrate it into your network security, come chat with our team members for an expert’s opinion on your circumstances.
FAQ
What is Attack Surface Monitoring in Cybersecurity?
This process focuses on identifying, tracking, and analyzing every entry point across your network. Dealing with both internal and external surfaces, ASM helps keep an eye on any part of the network that could be exploited by attackers.
Why is ASM Security Important for Network Security?
It’s important as it plays a significant role in real-time network visibility into potential vulnerabilities and assets that are exposed. Having this benefit gives businesses the power to detect threats early on before lateral movement becomes a problem.
How Does Attack Surface Monitoring Work With Firewalls?
By flagging at-risk assets and abnormal behavior on the network, firewalls can effectively enforce access controls. This also leads to better security policies and a layered defense against known or emerging cyber attacks.
What are Examples of Internal and External Attack Surfaces?
Internal surfaces focus on angles like employee devices, servers, and internal networks. With external surfaces, this pertains more to websites, cloud services, APIs, and other public-facing systems your company uses.
