Attack Surface Management: Your First Line of Defense Against Cyberattacks
Attack surface is a security term that refers to all the points of contact a hacker can use to break into your system.
Clearly, managing your attack surface is critical to protecting your system from cyberattacks. But what does that involve? And how can you do it effectively?
In this post, we'll explore what attack surface management is.
What is Attack Surface Management?
Attack Surface Management is a process that helps organizations to continuously discover, categorize, and evaluate the security of their IT ecosystem. This process includes activities that manage the external, internet-facing assets as well as the assets available within the company.
ASM helps you get a better view of your organization's attack surface by showing you how your digital assets are interconnected and what impact they might have on your internal systems in the event of a breach. The end goal of attack surface management is to lower the likelihood and severity of future cyberattacks.
What is an Attack Surface?
An attack surface is the sum total of all points where an unauthorized user can gain access to a computer system or network. Every opening in your system’s defenses that could be exploited by an unauthorized user is an attack surface. Web applications, software, hardware, operating systems, mobile and IoT devices, web browsers and servers, data centers, and employees that are susceptible to attacks are all part of the attack surface. In addition, cloud assets, such as SaaS and IaaS, external assets that store company information (third-party assets), and networks that are shared by more than one organization (subsidiary networks) also make up the attack surface.
Too often, companies focus on securing the perimeter of their systems without realizing that the attack surface is expanding all the time. As new applications and devices are added to the network, the attack surface gets bigger and bigger. And that's why it's important to have a plan for managing and monitoring your attack surface.
Why is Attack Surface Management Important?
Think about it this way: your company's entire security posture rests on the shoulders of your attack surface. If you don't manage your attack surface properly, you're leaving yourself open to cyberattacks.
Attack surfaces are continuously shifting, particularly given how many assets are now spread throughout different environments. Add to this the fact that remote users can now access your network, and you'll quickly realize how many potential entry points you have to worry about.
Did you know that in
68% of cases, a company asset that was unknown, unmanaged, or improperly managed was the source of a cyberattack? This trend is only expected to continue in the future.
With new assets joining the company’s network every day, the average company’s attack surface has grown larger, more complex, and more costly to secure.
Attack surface management solutions offer a broad range of capabilities from attack surface detection, asset inventory, classification, prioritization, and continuous monitoring.And the biggest benefit? Attack surface management can help you see your external attack surface from the attacker’s perspective. When you analyze your attack surface from an attacker’s point of view, you can prioritize patching the weaknesses and vulnerabilities that external attackers are most likely to take advantage of or the ones that will pose the most risk to your organization.
The 5 Phases of Attack Surface Management
Asset discovery, classification and prioritization, remediation, and monitoring are the five fundamental processes of ASM. Here’s a quick breakdown of how each phase contributes to the overall success of the process:
Asset Discovery
In this early phase, organizations discover their attack surface by identifying and mapping all the assets that are connected to the network. By doing this, the organization can better see the whole attack surface and can be certain that it has mapped every asset that might be utilized as an attack vector. These assets can include known and unknown assets, third-party assets, subsidiary assets, and malicious assets.
Asset Classification and Prioritization
After identifying the assets, they are categorized and examined for vulnerabilities such as security misconfigurations, coding errors, and unpatched vulnerabilities. The identified vulnerabilities are given scores based on a risk assessment. They are then ranked based on their exploitability - that is, a numerical indicator of how likely it is for attackers to target them.
Remediation
The vulnerabilities are then fixed in order of priority. Examples of remediation activities include patching vulnerabilities, updating software, removing malicious assets, troubleshooting application code, changing network configuration, and so on.
Monitoring
The final phase in ASM is monitoring. The cataloged assets and the network are continuously monitored and screened for vulnerabilities and anomalies. Monitoring is essential to detect anomalous behavior and monitor for changes as new assets are added or removed from the network. It helps to identify new vulnerabilities and attack pathways in real-time and address high-risk security gaps immediately.
Attack Surface Management vs Vulnerability Management
Vulnerability Management is a component of ASM that helps to discover and fix vulnerabilities that are present in a network. It provides insight into the quality of your cybersecurity programme, and helps to proactively detect threats using an attacker's tactics and methods. Additionally, VM provides simple solutions to stop hackers from accessing your network . Vulnerability management is simply a subset of the whole attack surface management process and usually has a narrower scope.
Attack Surface management on the other hand, helps to discover vulnerabilities in the infrastructure of the company and to fix them as quickly as possible. It provides a more detailed analysis of the network and its weak points.
Australian Cybersecurity Landscape
In the ever-evolving landscape of cybersecurity, effective attack surface management has become a cornerstone of defense against cyber threats. But what does this entail, and how can organizations navigate the unique challenges posed by the Australian cybersecurity context?
Australia's cybersecurity landscape is marked by dynamic shifts and regional nuances. Notably, more populous states like Queensland and Victoria report disproportionately higher rates of cybercrime in relation to their populations. And the financial losses are as follows —victims in the Northern Territory face average losses exceeding $40,000 per cybercrime report with financial implications, while Western Australia reports over $29,000 in losses.
Cyber-enabled crimes dominate the spectrum, with online fraud, online shopping, and online banking constituting the majority, accounting for approximately 54 percent of reported cybercrimes. Businesses took the biggest hit, with the cost per cybercrime report escalating to over $39,000 for small businesses, $88,000 for medium businesses, and exceeding $62,000 for large enterprises. Amid this landscape, instances of business email compromise have intensified, with average losses reaching $64,000 per report. Furthermore, the surge in publicly reported software vulnerabilities by 25 percent and the prominence of ransomware underline the evolving challenges that Australian organizations face.
(Source: ACSC Annual Cyber Threat Report)
Compliance with Australian Data Protection Laws
Australia's stringent data protection laws serve as a driving force behind the need for robust attack surface management. As these laws continue to evolve, organizations must align their strategies with Australian data protection regulations. This alignment not only enhances cybersecurity but also ensures compliance, minimizing the risk of breaches and regulatory penalties. In this dedicated section, we'll delve into the crucial link between compliance with Australian data protection laws and the implementation of effective attack surface management practices.
A complex amalgamation of laws, from the federal Privacy Act to sector-specific regulations, sets the foundation for robust data privacy practices. Key amongst these regulations are:
- Federal Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and Australian Privacy Principles (APPs): Encompassing private sector entities with an annual turnover of at least AU$3 million, this federal legislation regulates the handling of personal information. It also empowers the Privacy Commissioner to conduct investigations and seek penalties for serious breaches.
- State and Territory Laws: Beyond federal regulations, most Australian states and territories have their own data protection laws. These include the Information Privacy Act, Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act, and more, applicable to government agencies and businesses interacting with them.
- Sector-Specific Legislation: Various sectors are governed by specialized regulations impacting data protection. Acts like the Telecommunications Act, Criminal Code Act, and Health Records Acts influence privacy considerations for specific types of data or activities.
- Assistance and Access Act (AA Act): This legislation provides law enforcement agencies access to encrypted data for serious crime investigations. However, its scope and limited judicial oversight have garnered criticism, potentially affecting security and encryption solutions.
- Consumer Data Right (CDR): Designed to enhance consumer control over personal data, the CDR enables consumers to access their data held by third parties. Implementation across sectors fosters competition, innovation, and improved services.
Adapting Attack Surface Management for Remote Workforce Security
The rise of remote work has redefined traditional notions of network boundaries, presenting new challenges for attack surface management. With employees accessing systems and data from diverse locations, organizations must adapt their strategies to secure this expanded attack surface.
In 2019, a mere 6% of employees operated remotely, a number that transformed drastically by 2022, when approximately 60% of eligible individuals embraced the flexibility of working from home, whether part-time or full-time. This transition hasn't been without its challenges. A worrisome situation came to light when it was found that around 40% of remote workers used tools and apps that their employers hadn't approved. This could potentially create weak points in the security measures. Even more concerning, 66% of remote employees acknowledged moving company data to apps meant for personal use, making data security worries even bigger. On top of that, remote devices now have a tough challenge—fixing issues takes more than double the time compared to devices that are at the office.
In the face of these shifts, it's evident that attack surface management must evolve to address the unique security dynamics posed by remote work. The dramatic rise in remote work adoption calls for strategies that adapt to this new norm. Focusing on remote endpoints is paramount. A surge in unsanctioned software usage and data migration to non-work platforms, coupled with the sluggishness in patch implementation, create abundant opportunities for potential breaches.
Ensuring that the appropriate access controls are in place is the first step in securing remote work. Managing remote endpoints, which can be accessed from any location, requires a robust strategy that includes continuous monitoring and remediation of vulnerabilities, as well as strengthening authentication and authorization controls.
Conclusion
Attack surface management is the first and most important step in protecting your business from cyberattacks. By taking a proactive approach to managing your attack surface, you can prevent hackers from gaining access to your systems and data.
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