Why is Attack Surface Management Now Worth the Cost?

What is Attack Surface Management?

The digital footprint of an organization is constantly growing, sometimes without IT and security teams even knowing. This makes keeping track of all the software, cloud services, and public-facing systems employees are using a challenge. This is where Attack Surface Management (ASM) and dark web tools can help.

ASM is a proactive security practice focused on identifying, assessing, and managing potential vulnerabilities within an organization’s public-facing digital footprint. ASM provides organizations with a constant and comprehensive view and inventory of these assets, including those cybersecurity teams weren’t aware of (aka shadow IT), helping them to understand the risks and potential attack vectors that could be exploited by malicious cybercriminals.

The primary goal of ASM is to identify corporate IT assets and pinpoint any vulnerabilities, such as misconfigurations or outdated software. By having a real-time view of an organization’s external digital footprint, ASM ensures that security teams can detect and rectify weaknesses before they are exploited.

Ultimately, ASM is a critical component of a broader cybersecurity strategy, providing a proactive approach to managing external threats, reducing vulnerabilities, and maintaining a secure, resilient digital environment.

Challenges organizations face before implementing ASM

Before implementing ASM, companies often struggle with challenges tied to the complexity and scale of their digital footprint. One of the biggest issues is limited visibility into the organization’s full attack surface. As companies grow, they frequently acquire more digital assets, many of which may not be actively monitored or even known to the security team. This lack of visibility creates blind spots, where attackers can easily exploit unpatched systems or misconfigured services that fly under the radar.

Another challenge is managing “shadow IT”, which refers to the technology or software deployed within an organization without IT approval. Employees may spin up cloud instances, adopt SaaS tools, or create subdomains for specific projects without the knowledge of the security team. These unknown assets can significantly increase the attack surface, leaving security teams unaware of potential vulnerabilities, while attackers can easily spot and exploit these gaps.

Additionally, companies without EASM often face challenges with ineffective risk prioritization. Without a clear understanding of which external assets are exposed or at risk, it becomes difficult to prioritize security efforts. This leads to a reactive approach to cybersecurity, where teams focus on threats only after they’ve become apparent, such as after a data breach or cyberattack. In this situation, security resources are often wasted addressing low-priority issues, while critical vulnerabilities remain overlooked.

Lastly, managing third-party risk is a major challenge. Many organizations rely heavily on vendors and partners, but they have limited insight into how secure these third-party systems are. Without EASM, companies often struggle to track the security posture of external vendors that may have access to sensitive data or integrate with their infrastructure, leading to potential exposure points outside the organization’s direct control.

Key benefits of ASM

The key benefit of ASM is that it helps to reduce the risk of unknown vulnerabilities and any subsequent attacks by verifying exposures across an organization. ASM tools provide security teams with the cybercriminals perspective, the visibility needed to ensure all entry points are secure, and a complete up-to-date inventory of all assets – including those that aren’t originally known to the organization.

These Attack Surface Management tools are essential because – for every unmonitored device, misconfigured cloud instance, or forgotten web application – organizations risk data breaches, operational disruptions, and regulatory non-compliance.

Gartner predicts that by 2026, organizations that prioritize their security investments based on a Continuous Threat Exposure Management program will be 3x less likely to suffer a breach.

Investment in this allows organizations to actively monitor and manage their attack surface, and:

• Quickly identify and mitigate vulnerabilities before they are exploited.
• Significantly reduce the risk of cyberattacks by limiting exposure of their infrastructure to cybercriminals.
• Improve compliance with security regulations by securing all of their assets.

The cost of not investing in ASM

Not investing in ASM can leave organizations with unmanaged attack surfaces that pose significant risks, especially as threat actors are exploiting vulnerabilities faster than ever. According to IBM in 2019 it took ransomware groups over 60 days to gain access then attack, however that was reduced to 4 days by 2021. Secureworks then reported in 2023 that ransomware was now being deployed within 24 hours of gaining access in over 50% of engagements.

The lack of visibility into potential entry points for cybercriminals not only makes it easier for attackers to compromise sensitive data without detection, but makes incident response and remediation a lot harder.

Examples of unmanaged attack surfaces and their risks:

Shadow IT and lack of visibility
Shadow IT can come in the form of personal devices being connected to an organization’s network, data being stored in personal cloud accounts or off the network, or apps and software that have been downloaded without prior approval or knowledge by IT.

The risk of shadow IT is that without knowledge of these devices or software, IT and cybersecurity teams are unable to patch vulnerabilities, ensure they are correctly configured, and track incoming and outgoing dark web traffic. This could result in cyberattacks and exfiltration of data to the dark web without an organization knowing anything about it.

Poor patch management
If software isn’t kept up to date or patched properly, the risk of malware infections, ransomware attacks, unauthorized access, and potential loss of sensitive information increases. Cybercriminals can easily discover unpatched software because many vulnerabilities are publicly documented. This makes unpatched systems prime targets for exploitation.

Unsecured cloud environments
Businesses are frequently moving to the cloud, and while it brings a whole host of benefits, it also opens organizations up to cyberattacks, especially if their cloud environment is unsecured. Security teams must ensure that cloud environments have robust security solutions in place, such as encryption, firewalls, and intrusion detection systems, to protect data stored in the cloud. If proper configuration doesn’t happen or there aren’t strong authentication mechanisms in place the likelihood of an attack increases.

Third-party vendor risks
As well as identifying and managing their owned assets, organizations need to be aware of threats from third-parties such as suppliers and vendors. The threat from a supply chain is directly linked to the number of suppliers, which increases the number of potential attack entry points. A third-party attack can be a goldmine for cybercriminals, resulting in threat actors harvesting data, which will then go on to be sold or traded on dark web marketplaces.

All of these risks can be proactively managed and mitigated by organizations using ASM tools. Continuous monitoring and discovery of a business’s external assets will identify cloud services, third-party tools, and shadow IT for risks of exploitation, plus flag where cyberattacks may have already happened and data has been exfiltrated to the dark web. This gives security teams the power to focus on what matters most, respond faster, and reduce the risk of an attack.

Is ASM worth the cost?

Considering the alarming statistic that ransomware deployment can occur within 24 hours of network access and the projected surge in cybercrime costs to over $23 trillion by 2027 (up from $8.4 trillion in 2022), investing in an Attack Surface Management tool is now critical. In addition to this, the mean time to respond is going to become more important for organizations as resolving any vulnerabilities or attacks quickly is almost as good as never having been exposed.

ASM tools, such our Assetnote Attack Surface Management platform, helps organizations continuously detect and prioritize vulnerabilities, end-of-life technologies, and cloud misconfigurations across your entire digital footprint. This means your team can focus on what matters most, respond faster, and reduce the risk of an attack.