Data breaches are an ever-present threat for businesses online. Indeed, over the last couple of years, hundreds of data breaches have been reported, and companies of all sizes have fallen victim to malicious cyber attacks. With those attacks, there is the possibility of financial losses, legal consequences, and loss of customer support. So what to do?
It’s worth your time to take proactive steps that will help you to protect the sensitive information of your business. One of the best ways to do this is to make good use of an attack surface management tool. But what exactly is an ASM tool? How does it help to prevent a data breach?
In this article, we will go over five major factors in which ASM tools can save your business from digital threats. But let’s start with the basics.
What is Attack Surface Management?
What is an attack surface and how do you manage it? Generally, an “attack surface” is a term for all the different ways that hackers can access your network. These range from servers and cloud services to employee devices and applications.
Pinpointing those assets is what an ASM tool provided by teams like Immuniweb is good for: it gives you a clear understanding of where the potential vulnerabilities lie. Instead of reacting after the attack already happened, attack surface management tools proactively find and mitigate the vulnerabilities. This helps you get ahead of other cyber security threats.
Here’s what an attack surface management tool typically helps you monitor:
- Servers and cloud services;
- Employee devices and their access to digital spaces;
- Web applications and APIs;
- Third-party integrations.
Attack surface management does that by continuously monitoring the assets for you. This approach helps in identifying all potential vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and outdated system versions before they can be exploited by a hacker.
The management tools for the attack surface provide relevant insights in real-time. This will allow your security team to act immediately and bring down the chances of a breach. Such a proactive approach helps to make sure that your organization complies with all relevant industry regulations and various security standards.
Now that we have a basic understanding, let’s take a closer look at 5 key ways an ASM tool can prevent a data breach.
1. Comprehensive Asset Discovery
The first way attack surface management tools help prevent data breaches is through comprehensive asset discovery. Most businesses have no clue about every device, application, and service connected to their network. This lack of visibility leads to unpatched vulnerabilities.
Think about it like leaving the door wide open at night, for any burglar to get in why you are not looking. You need to be aware of this door to be able to close it—that’s what the tool does for you.
The attack surface management tools offered by teams like Immuniweb do this by systematically cataloging all your assets, including those that may not be officially recognized. This of course means shadow IT: applications or services that are in active use but without the knowledge of an IT department.
Knowing what’s connected to your network is the first step that helps you protect the system from unauthorized access and potential breaches.
2. Continuous Monitoring and Real-time Alerts
The second key point in our list is the real-time alert and continuous monitoring. Since cyber threats are continuously changing, you need to be vigilant. The attack surface management tools are what always monitor your assets for any form of abnormality or unauthorized changes.
Imagine receiving a notification: a new device connects to the network. Or maybe some suspicious change has occurred in the settings of one of your apps. With real-time notifications, you can respond to these events quickly. And the time of reaction here is what helps you prevent potential data breaches.
3. Vulnerability Assessment and Management
The other important feature that the attack surface management tools have on board is vulnerability assessment and management. These systems continuously check your apps to make sure that there is no weakness that an attacker can use.
But here is the thing: not all vulnerabilities are equal, whether in nature or their impact. Some pose a far greater risk than others. The attack surface management tools are designed to prioritize these vulnerabilities so you know which one to focus on first.
4. Threat Intelligence Integration
Another great way that attack surface management tools can help prevent data breaches is through threat intelligence. It’s not just about monitoring your own digital space, after all. These tools will take advantage of the external threat intelligence to inform you about the latest threats and methods of cyberattacks too.
For example, your attack surface management tool may notify you about a new variant of malware that affects the software you use in your operations. By knowing the tactics and techniques the attackers will use, you can prepare to defend your digital business against a potential breach.
5. Prioritizing Risks and Creating Mitigation Plans
Finally, the attack surface management tools will support risk prioritization and remediation planning. It is one thing to identify vulnerabilities but quite another thing altogether to know just how to go about fixing them.
The ASM tools assess and prioritize risks based on potential impact. This means you are capable of building actionable plans that would address them appropriately.
This means proactively addressing the issues before they can be exploited. With a clear roadmap, you will improve your security and make informed decisions on how to improve it.
Conclusions
Basically, an investment in attack surface management tools is always worth it for any business operating online. And which company doesn’t do it today, considering how much of our processes are intertwined with technology? This shows your customers and stakeholders how serious you are about their digital security and the protection of sensitive information.
So why wait? Consider implementing an attack surface management solution today and take the very first step to a safer future. As is said: It’s better to be safe than to be sorry.