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Top Attack Surface Management Tools: Safeguarding Your Cybersecurity Infrastructure

Managing your organization's attack surface is essential for keeping it safe from intrusions.

Your attack surface has dramatically increased along with the drive toward digital transformation, making it enormously more difficult to define and defend. It is hardly surprising that attack surface management is receiving attention, especially given the surge in cyber-attacks and data breaches.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of the cloud, digital transformation, and the growth of remote work, increasing the size, distribution, and dynamicity of the average company's digital footprint and attack surface as new assets join the network on a daily basis.

In the previous year, 67 percent of businesses experienced an increase in their attack surfaces, and 69 percent had their security breached by an unknown or improperly managed internet-facing asset, according to Attack Surface Management 2022 reports. Attack surface extension was listed as a key security and risk management priority for CISOs in 2022 by industry researchers. In fact, it is predicted that CAASM (Cyber Asset Attack Surface Management) will contribute to a jump in the proportion of businesses with 95% asset visibility, from less than 1% today to 20% by 2026.

The speed at which new vulnerabilities and attack vectors emerge in today's networks means that traditional asset discovery, risk assessment, and vulnerability management methods, which were created when corporate networks were more stable and centralized, can't keep up.

Visibility is important when it comes to protecting your assault surface. However, many organizations struggle to get complete visibility across their whole estate as environments continue to grow in size and complexity, especially as they transition to cloud environments.

Cyber asset attack surface management (CAASM) can help with it.

Here in this article, you will find answers to many questions you may have about attack surface management and the best attack surface management tools.

  • What is attack surface management?

  • Why is attack surface management important?

  • What factors should be considered when evaluating attack surface management tools?

  • Which attack surface management tools are available?

    • Bitsight
    • Bugcrowd Asset Inventory
    • Burp Suite Enterprise
    • CoalFire Attack Surface Management
    • CyCognito
    • Digital Shadows SearchLight
    • Rapid7 InsightVM
    • SecurityScorecard
    • SOCRadar AttackMapper
    • UpGuard

  • What are the recommendations for ASM tools?

What is Attack Surface Management?​

The continual discovery, inventory, classification, prioritization, and security monitoring of external digital assets that store, transmit, or process sensitive data is known as attack surface management (ASM). In essence, it is everything that an attacker can and will learn about outside of the firewall as they scout out weak companies in the threat environment.

Although the word may sound similar to asset management and discovery (ASM), ASM handles these and other security responsibilities from the viewpoint of an attacker. This guarantees that security extends to all IT assets vulnerable to attackers that are accessible from within an organization, as well as to assets on the internet and in the infrastructure of suppliers.

ASM is conducted purely from a hacker's perspective, not the defender's, unlike other cybersecurity disciplines. It finds the targets and assesses the risks depending on the luck the attacker may have. "Ethical hackers" are knowledgeable about the tactics used by cybercriminals, are adept at mimicking their actions, and are developed by and run a large number of ASM tasks and technologies. Many sources of ASM are techniques used by hackers.

The truth is that cyber asset attack surface management (CAASM) is a new technology that gives security teams a way to overcome ongoing asset visibility and vulnerability issues. The goal of CAASM solutions is to provide a continuous, multidimensional view of an organization's full attack surface by aggregating data from existing tools and data flows.

For security operations teams, CAASM practically removes blind spots and gives them a quick approach to proactive cyber security and risk management.

In summary, with ASM's continuous workflow and hacker perspective, security teams and security operations centers (SOCs) can take a proactive security posture in the face of an ever-expanding and changing attack surface. Real-time visibility into vulnerabilities and attack vectors, as they appear, is provided by ASM solutions. When analyzing and prioritizing vulnerabilities, they might use data from conventional risk assessment and vulnerability management tools and processes for more context. Additionally, they can be integrated with technologies for threat detection and response, such as security information and event management (SIEM), endpoint detection and response (EDR), or extended detection and response (XDR), to enhance threat mitigation and quicken threat response across the board.

Why is Attack Surface Management Important?​

The importance of attack surface management lies in its ability to reduce and avoid cyber threats and prospective assaults resulting from:

  • IoT, shadow IT, and legacy assets

  • Examples of human errors and omissions include phishing and data breaches.

  • Obsolete and vulnerable software

  • Open-source software (OSS) that is unknown

  • Attacks on your industry on a large scale

  • Targeted cyberattacks on your company

  • Infringement against property rights

  • IT was a legacy of M&A transactions.

  • Assets maintained by a vendor

Effective threat intelligence must quickly identify digital assets in order to significantly lower the risk of data breaches and leaks. The entire company or supply chain can be compromised with only one successful cyberattack on a weak spot or security hole in your organization or IT infrastructure.

Attackers entered through a channel that was either unrecognized by security or regarded as irrelevant in each of these breaches. It is easy to understand how something could go unnoticed given the sheer number of devices and services that make up your organization, especially if you are looking at your attack surface from the inside out, which is how most security teams approach it.

In-depth, automated reconnaissance is used in today's sophisticated attacks to study your attack surface from the outside in. This viewpoint frequently paints an entirely different picture of the only relevant attack surface, the one that attackers can use.

The only way to successfully defend against assaults is to adopt an attack surface management strategy that gives you constant outside-in visibility into your security weaknesses, allowing you to address problems before they are exploited.

What factors should be considered when evaluating attack surface management tools?​

SaaS, cloud-based, and managed systems are available as attack surface management options. By automatically identifying the external assets that attackers can access and comparing them to proprietary, open source, and commercial threat intelligence feeds, these products, and services can generate security ratings for an organization's overall security posture. Senior management, non-technical stakeholders, potential partners, and clients can all benefit from ASM reports.

The continuous monitoring capabilities of ASM products produce real-time data on the overall risk profile of the organization as well as specific threats inside the infrastructure. Some ASM systems use APIs to allow additional security products to be integrated and search the dark web for credentials revealed in third-party data breaches. Other ASM tools help prioritize threat ratings by examining the effectiveness of existing security controls, combining them with business value and impact. ASM solutions provide helpful capabilities that let security teams keep track of changes in the attack surface and identify potential security gains from addressing a risk or combination of hazards.

A product must meet the following criteria to be eligible for the Attack Surface Management category:

  • Check for vulnerabilities in network, cloud, and application components.

  • Discover IPv4, IPv6, Cloud, and IoT assets automatically

  • Set remedial priorities depending on risks.

  • Depending on priority hazards, facilitate remediation activities.

Today's security teams need ongoing investment to make sure they have the knowledge and tools necessary to avoid and mitigate dangers. The attack surfaces on enterprises are enormous. Since ASM gives CIOs, CTOs, CISOs, and security teams the ability to monitor and lessen their attack surface, it is growing in popularity.

Data protection has gotten increasingly difficult in modern times. Application development companies collaborate with outside vendors, who in turn collaborate with other outside vendors. There could be hundreds of indirect vendors working on a single SaaS product or website. COVID has made the situation even worse.

Organizations faced brand-new, unusual security dangers as a result of the pandemic. Businesses were forced to react to the environment rapidly and with heightened security. We have the chance to significantly enhance data security as we adapt to the "new normal". When it comes to inadequate IT security, many businesses have a zero-tolerance policy and are actively working to enhance personnel and infrastructure IT hygiene.

ASMs must advance in sophistication to match that of the cybercriminals they are fighting. An ASM must be able to do the following in order to safeguard a company in the new normal:

  • possess the capacity to ascertain the danger that third- and fourth-party vendors pose.

  • Find your assets and data on the dark web. This covers information dumps and assets that cybercriminals are discussing.

  • Find exposed datasets on the deep web and the open web, such as public GitHub repositories, open S3 buckets, FTP servers, etc.

  • Possess the capacity to correlate the exposed asset against industry, location, technology, or other special ways of rating in order to more accurately and relevantly assess the risk of each attack surface.

  • possess the capacity to assess risks through the examination of an attack surface and vulnerabilities. By doing this, accuracy is much improved and time is saved. Action must be taken before a hacker does.

  • Use attack surface discovery to comprehend a threat actor's "attack path" as well as their "detection" path.

Determine the personnel, process, and technological weaknesses as well. It should assess if your staff members and other stakeholders have the necessary training and know-how to defend against cyberattacks. Along with other IT departments, the ASM should assess the configuration process, asset discovery, and operating processes.

Which Attack Surface Management Tools are Available?​

In order to find, address, and fix vulnerabilities, networks, assets, cloud services, and other artifacts are continuously monitored using attack surface management software. These technologies help prioritize significant threats and vulnerabilities to reduce risk while automating a variety of operations. These solutions enhance the capabilities of vulnerability management systems that concentrate on coding by addressing infrastructure and other internet-facing assets.

Numerous threat vectors are produced by contemporary computing environments and apps, giving hackers access to systems and/or the ability to slow them down. Attack surface management tools are designed to enable real-time analysis of network and cloud assets for vulnerabilities such as shadow IT, weak passwords, and misconfigurations. As attacks develop, businesses regularly upgrade network defenses, automate remediation, and incorporate threat data into other security systems.

The top tools for monitoring the attack surface are listed below:

  1. Bitsight: Bitsight is a tool for managing attack surfaces that finds hidden assets and cloud instances, evaluates their risk, and synchronizes them with organizational security policy.
  2. Bugcrowd Asset Inventory: This software was created by ethical hackers. It searches connected software packages as a pen-testing system to find the client's software and services. All APIs and microservices that offer plug-in services for Web page functionality are expressly linked by this system.
  3. Burp Suite Enterprise: Burp Suite is offered as a substitute for the OWASP Zed Attack Proxy. Both products are superb vulnerability scanners and have excellent reputations. Burp Suite Enterprise can be improved by the OWASP Attack Surface Detector without cost, similar to the Zed Attack Proxy.
  4. CoalFire Attack Surface Management: This risk-based ASM tool has a respected track record of disclosing and monitoring businesses' outward assets, although it has been around since April 2021. Coalfire combines a full range of services to identify weak points in on-premises and cloud infrastructure segments, classify the detected vulnerabilities in terms of visibility and ownership, prioritize them, and manage remediation efforts. Coalfire has twenty years of experience in risk management and penetration testing.
  5. CyCognito: A SaaS platform for managing external attack surfaces is called CyCognito. To evaluate and safeguard organizations, it automates and carries out offensive methods. Mapping Business-Asset relationships, defining business context, automating security testing, prioritizing risks, and accelerating remediation are the five steps of the SaaS application's operation.
  6. Digital Shadows SearchLight: An Attack Surface Management Tool called SearchLight from Digital Shadows is constantly on the lookout for exploitable flaws in a company's public-facing infrastructure.
  7. Rapid7 InsightVM: InsightVM takes the top spot on the list because of its advanced analytical capabilities and prospective features. The Rapid7 Insight platform, which was introduced in 2015, includes an exploit KB (knowledge base), vulnerability research, data from internet-wide scans, patterns of attacker activity around the world, real-time reporting, and exposure analytics.
  8. SecurityScorecard: Through its cybersecurity ratings, SecurityScorecard, an Attack Surface Management, gives enterprises information about the security postures of their vendors.
  9. SOCRadar AttackMapper: AttackMapper is an automated attack surface management tool that increases visibility and context on the gravity of unidentified external-facing digital assets.
  10. UpGuard: In a number of ways, UpGuard separates itself from the competition. In addition to offering the standard set of ASM functions, it has a ground-breaking data leak discovery engine that searches the deep and open web for data that has been covertly stolen from a customer's ecosystem, such as identification documents and credentials. A unique risk scoring and security rating system that employs tried-and-true proprietary algorithms to analyze the state of an organization's digital posture several times per day is another benefit.

1. BitSight​

In order to facilitate speedy recovery, BitSight is an Attack Surface Management Tool that displays the position of your company's digital assets on a single dashboard, broken down by cloud provider, location, and business unit.

With BitSight, you can comprehend and control cyber risk in your developing digital ecosystem. Other than that, you can use BitSight to get a complete picture of your company's attack surface, both on-premises and in the cloud, and learn where your company's cyber risk lies.

You may evaluate cyber risk based on individual assets, depict areas of critical or excessive risk, identify places with the greatest exposure, and prioritize remediation using ecosystem-wide views of your digital assets.

It's challenging to manage cyber risk across its vast attack surface as your digital ecosystem continues to grow. Get a handle on the risk that is concealed across cloud-based digital assets, regions, subsidiaries, and a remote workforce. Since you cannot secure something that you cannot see.

You can accomplish all of this with the aid of BitSight Attack Surface Analytics as a component of a successful security performance management program.

The main components of Bitsight are listed below:

  • Obtain ongoing awareness of your digital ecosystem.

  • Security scores

  • Analysis of attack surfaces

  • monitoring by a third party ongoing

How does the user interface feel?

Through its data and analytics platform, BitSight enables enterprises to find vulnerabilities and misconfigurations that harm an organization and its vendors. The dashboard of the solution offers context regarding the security postures of an organization's vendors and its attack surface. The analytics and data platform constantly scans for potential weaknesses.

How is Bitsight used?

Globally, BitSight partners with more than 2,400 businesses.

2. Bugcrowd Asset Inventory​

Attack Surface Management for Bugcrowd Asset monitoring software created by hackers can read through and keep an eye on the security of supporting service levels. A SaaS system is this.

The idea of Bugcrowd attack surface management is intriguing. This automated tool was created by ethical hackers. It is a crawler that looks through connected software packages and is employed as a pen-testing tool to find out what programs and services a client uses. This solution specifically connects to all of the microservices and APIs that offer plug-in services for web page functionality.

According to Bugcrowd, a third of all assaults enter a company through software and services that the IT personnel are not aware of. Systems that you are not aware of utilizing cannot be secured. The system then keeps track of the newly discovered assets and alerts the client to any security issues.

Customers can order human-based system searches if they need a tailored solution. Since Bugcrowd places a bounty on your company's systems and entices the best white hat hackers in the world to break in, rewarding the first hacker for doing so, this is actually a penetration test. Asset risk is the name of this service.

Key characteristics of Bugcrowd are given below:

  • Electronic penetration tester

  • Crawler-style homes

  • Examines APIs and microservices

  • Mapping of application dependencies

  • Explores a software inventory to find assets

  • Checks the program coupling for flaws

  • Continual evaluation

Cons of Bugcrowd are as follows:

  • It runs in the background without your knowledge.

  • You can ask for a demo of the cloud-based service Bugcrowd Attack Surface Management to witness it in action.

How does the user interface feel?

An asset discovery tool from Bugcrowd Attack Surface Management compiles an inventory of both hardware and software. A vulnerability scanner's foundation is the software inventory. The business serves as an intermediary between independent white hat hackers and vulnerability management services, collecting their reports on found exploits.

According to Bugcrowd, a third of all attacks enter a company through programs and services that the IT department of the business isn't even aware are being used. Systems that you utilize but don't see cannot be protected. The system then keeps an eye on those recently found assets and notifies the customer when it notices any security risks.

Customers that desire a customized service can order through system searches conducted by humans. Because Bugcrowd places a bounty on your company's systems and encourages some of the top white hat hackers from around the world to enter, paying the prize to the first hacker in, this is actually a pen-testing exercise. Asset risk is the name of this service.

For whom is Bugcrowd suggested?

All sizes of enterprises should use Bugcrowd. Small businesses will definitely avoid choosing this option because the company doesn't disclose its pricing list for fear of being hit with a hefty payment. Bugcrowd Attack Surface Management will be especially appealing to developers of web applications.

3. Burp Suite Enterprise​

Burp Suite Business The free OWASP Attack Surface Detector can be added to an effective vulnerability scanner. accessible on Linux, macOS, and Windows. A collection of penetration testing tools is called the Burp Suite. There are three editions of the system available. These consist of the free Burp Suite Community Edition, the premium Burp Suite Professional toolkit, and the automated vulnerability scanner Burp Suite Enterprise. Software development firms and DevOps operations are intended users of Burp Suite Enterprise.

Key characteristics of Burp Suite are as follows:

  • Facilities include everything from free pen testing tools to a fully automated scanner that costs money.

  • Utilizes the open-source OWASP Attack Surface Detector plug-in

  • Use for ongoing operations security and development testing

Cons of Burp Suite are given below:

  • No SaaS offering

  • Burp Suite Enterprise is an advanced tool, but it costs money. The service is available in three packages: Standard, Grow, and Accelerate, each of which includes five to fifty scanning agents. Installing Burp Suite Enterprise on Windows, macOS, or Linux is possible, and a trial version is offered.

How does the user interface feel?

High-end vulnerability scanner, Burp Suite Enterprise Edition. The same software package is offered by Burp Suite in its three editions, but users of the Community and Professional editions are unable to use the automation functions since they are disabled. The Enterprise edition is simpler to use and intended for a larger audience.

For whom is Burp Suite suggested?

Burp Suite Enterprise Edition can be configured as a continuity tester in a CI/CD pipeline as well as being used as a vulnerability scanner. While the commercial plans are appropriate for business use, the community version is targeted toward individual penetration testers. Providers of web applications should choose the enterprise edition.

4. CoalFire Attack Surface Management​

Management of the Coalfire Attack Surface requires a capable asset-tracking system that examines the vulnerabilities in external systems that could serve as hacker entry points. This service is managed.

The reason CoalFire Attack Surface Management is on this list is that the company is aware that the major risk to businesses is posed by plug-ins and APIs that are simple to integrate and provide immediate functionality. However, hardly one pauses to consider precisely where those operations are carried out or whether or not their providers have any security in place when building a website or Web service.

Along with the extended asset inventory, CoalFire evaluates the risk associated with connections between a company's network and remote locations and employees. The CoalFire risk assessment, which serves as a comprehensive characterization of the attack surface, takes into account all of the various situations of an organization's working operations.

Key Features of CoalFire Attack Surface are listed below:

  • Coalfire Attack Surface Management differs from competitors in that it requires human confirmation of a customer's security posture as opposed to fully automated asset tracking and monitoring. The solution is a fantastic option for regulatory compliance among other things.

  • Recognizes elements of the Web

  • Manual and automated analysis

  • Consultant-verified automated alerts

  • Reveals potential flaws in third-party APIs

  • Reveals the place of code insertion.

  • Outlines recommendations for addressing particular risks;

  • Long-standing experience of the vendor in related security fields;

  • Excellent customer service.

Cons of CoalFire Attack Surface are as follows:

  • Because this is a customized service, it is pricey.

  • The product is quite new; there are sporadic false positives.

How does the user interface feel?

A managed security service is CoalFire Attack Surface Management. The bundle not only comes with all of the software and the servers that run it, but it also offers technicians to look after the system. The specialists close all openings while the software continuously scans for flaws and develops a countermeasure plan.

Unpicking and rewriting a website once it is life is challenging. For starters, such an endeavor would be exceedingly expensive and challenging to defend to the business accountant. CoalFire searches through websites and compiles a list of all the integrated external services. Automated methods identify all the interconnected chains of assets that make up a client's systems, and human analysts confirm these findings.

The company can create a defensive strategy after it has a thorough asset inventory. An intrusion detection system, or SIEM, is not included with CoalFire. It does, however, provide advice on the proper defense software you require for your digital persona.

For whom is CoalFire suggested?

Businesses that are situated in areas with little to no available security skills to recruit can benefit from this service. For small and mid-sized businesses that cannot afford to build up a security operations center, it might be a good idea. For compliance management, the service can be customized.

Pricing of CoalFire Attack Surface

The cost is determined by the size of the infrastructure a customer has.

5. CyCognito​

A monitor of the external attack surface is the CyCognito system. It lists all of your IT resources that are visible to the public, namely websites and web services. Through those original assets and the APIs and services that support them, the service may be traced. This is a useful tool in and of itself because it informs you precisely what code and which businesses are responsible for your websites.

The system has an attack surface monitor that serves as an automated vulnerability scanner as well as a third-party risk assessment. The CyCognito system continuously tries to break into every link in the chain of services that support your websites, probing them for vulnerabilities that might emerge over time. It prioritizes suggestions for hardening the systems that it finds to be the most vulnerable and ranks the risk of each unit.

Finding the business context, such as the owners of assets, the importance of the data they store, and the attack vectors they expose, is one area in which this technology excels. The prioritization of risks is more precise with this kind of profiling. The fact that CyCognito uses machine learning and natural language processing to find assets acquired through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) or joint ventures is also notable.

Key features of CyCognito are as follows:

  • It uses graph data models, machine learning, and natural language processing to map your external attack surface. This shows the connections between the resources of your business and joint ventures, acquired companies, and cloud environments. It automatically recognizes and assigns attack surface assets via iterative analysis.

  • Automated security testing will find flaws and display all endpoints that hackers frequently exploit to attack your IT resources.

  • The solution gives you a thorough insight into your extended IT stack and reveals the top 10 security issues that are responsible for 90% of your attacks. It prioritizes risks, then provides helpful guidance, and makes use of data to support your IT staff. Additionally, it offers workflow connections for popular IT products including CMDBs, SIEMs, ITSM, and others.

  • Scan for vulnerabilities

  • External attack surface assessor

  • Excellent user interface

  • A search could use some refinement but has strong core attack surface management features.

  • Vendor risk evaluation

  • Chains from a component with an external interface to auxiliary modules

  • Vulnerabilities are ranked

Cons of CyCognito are listed below:

  • No possibility for self-hosting

  • Has not yet reached a mature state.

  • Expert security analysts provide help for the automated processes in the CyCognito service. A demonstration of the Attack Surface Management system can be requested.

  • Global

How does the user interface feel?

Excellent company to add to your security stack. High-quality technological stack that gives my business the ability to monitor global events with our attack surface in real time. Despite using different scanning methods, we had visibility like this before Cycognito.

The vulnerability scanner, CyCognito Attack Surface Management, is external. This tool's cloud-based architecture allows for continuous operation. The organization provides a strategy that, in addition to the external vulnerability monitoring system, scans internal assets. Additionally, the platform provides continuous testing and threat intelligence.

For whom is CyCognito suggested?

Each module on the CyCognito platform caters to a distinct demographic and is available in a variety of formats. Any firm can use the Attack Surface Management suite, which includes both internal and external scanning. It will, however, be more appealing to large and mid-sized firms.

Cost:

The monthly price of CyCognito begins at $11 for each asset.

6. Digital Shadows SearchLight​

An attack surface management tool called Digital Shadows Searchlight finds vulnerabilities, enabling organizations to prioritize and fix their most significant threats.

The public-facing infrastructure of an organization is regularly scanned by Digital Shadows' SearchLight for exploitable flaws.

Security teams' threat intelligence is centered on digital risk insights from Digital Shadows.

Electronic Shadows SearchLight assists companies in lowering digital risk and safeguards against outside threats. The system continuously pinpoints the locations of your vulnerable assets, then gives context to help comprehend the risk and offer choices for remediation.

Key Elements of Digital Shadows are given below:

  • Attack surface surveillance

  • Vulnerability analysis

  • Threat information

  • Integrates seamlessly with your existing security tools.

Cons of Digital Shadows are as follows:

  • There are no tools for searching or monitoring the dark web.

How does the user interface feel?

Based on what it sees in the clear, deep, and dark web, Digital Shadows "provides great insights and tailored information specific for my organization".

Who are the intended consumers of Digital Shadows Searchlight?

Security teams that require assistance in managing their company's external digital dangers.

7. Rapid7 InsightVM​

Instant7 InsightVM vulnerability manager, which is a component of a security platform, can be enhanced by a research feed that scans records for third-party risk. This system is cloud-based.

Instead of monitoring the attack surface, Rapid7 InsightVM manages vulnerabilities. However, it has several advantageous characteristics that make it a useful tool for managing the external attack surface. This technology checks network endpoints and devices, as well as cloud and virtual systems. Because the tool is cloud-based, it is not limited to checking a single network. It can be used to check on endpoints at distant facilities as well as at telecommuting employees' residences.

Key characteristics of Rapid7 InsightVM are outlined below:

  • It offers a highly scalable, reachable, and effective technique for gathering vulnerability data and turning it into useful insights.

  • Rapid7 InsightVM is more like a vulnerability management tool than an attack surface monitor. Besides virtual and cloud stacks, endpoints and network devices are also inspected. This cloud-based software may search remote sites for external endpoints.

  • It includes Project Sonar, which expands its functionalities by collecting data loss event warnings and other security-related data from many companies. This data may be utilized to create a vulnerability scanner risk evaluation by a third party.

  • Cloud-based

  • In harmony with hybrid environments

  • Database for data loss events

  • Vulnerability evaluations

  • Checker for software versions

  • Continuously looking for vulnerabilities from a distance

  • Compared to a database of attacks

  • Adapted from the renowned Nexpose

  • Evaluation of cloud and virtual systems

  • Consists of a patch manager

Cons of Rapid7 InsightVM are as follows:

No independently hosted version

A SIEM tool, one of the technologies that can defend a network against an attack, includes a threat intelligence feed, and InsightVM is one of those products. This stream reveals any current entry points used by hackers to access networks. This has software flaws that offer a service to reduce the attack surface. A 30-day free trial of InsightVM is provided by Rapid7.

How does the user interface feel?

A SaaS solution is Rapid7 InsightVM. One account can be used to scan endpoints on several sites with this vulnerability manager. This makes it possible to centralize system monitoring. The program creates a risk assessment report and identifies assets with security flaws. This lists problems in order of priority and offers guidance on what to do.

One more function offered by Rapid7 can help InsightVM's attack surface evaluation capabilities. Project Sonar collects notifications of data loss events as well as additional data on security issues with various businesses. This collection of information can be used to create a third-party risk assessment of the companies that manage the client's service providers.

For whom is Rapid7 InsightVM suggested?

This bundle is appropriate for both large and medium-sized businesses. The strength of this SaaS platform resides in its capacity to monitor numerous sites, and there is no free edition available for small businesses. On the same platform as InsightVM, Rapid7 offers the InsightIDR SIEM package along with other security solutions.

8. SecurityScorecard​

Attack Surface Management by SecurityScorecard finds additional unknowns, such as those of your third-party vendors and how they could endanger your company, and provides you with comprehensive contextual insights and attribution to help you prioritize your next moves - all on one platform.

Through its cybersecurity evaluations, SecurityScorecard gives businesses information about the security postures of their vendors.

Ten categories of risk variables, including network security, DNS health, patching frequency, endpoint security, IP reputation, application security, cubit score, and hacker chatter, are used to rate security.

Key Elements of SecurityScorecard are listed below:

  • Ratings for third-party security

  • Cyber risk analysis

  • Tracking of hacker chatter

  • You can speak with your present vendor about risk management and threat intelligence plan in a brief call.

  • A product demo with real-time searches of the most important indicators of compromise (IOCs) is available.

  • You can talk about contextualized threat intelligence for your company and vendor portfolio tracking.

SecurityScorecard: Who Uses It?

For self-monitoring, third-party risk management, board reporting, and cyber insurance underwriting, businesses employ SecurityScorecard's rating technology.

9. SOCRadar AttackMapper​

AttackMapper automates the visibility and context of unknown digital assets with external-facing vulnerabilities. Using the potent internet-wide monitoring algorithms of SOCRadar, AttackMapper provides security teams with direct insight into all operational internet-facing technical assets as well as assets attributed to IP, DNS, Domain, and cryptographic infrastructure.

Through their range of tools for SOC teams, AttackMapper from SOCRadar aims to provide customers with a perspective of assets from an attacker's point of view. AttackMapper identifies new or modified assets and analyzes those changes for potential vulnerabilities while performing dynamic monitoring against those assets in real time. To provide context for the decision-making and triage process, SOCRadar links its findings with known vulnerabilities and attack tactics. In addition to keeping an eye on endpoints and software flaws, AttackMapper keeps an eye on DNS records and configuration, as well as SSL flaws and certificate expirations. AttackMapper can even detect website defacing to safeguard a company's reputation.

The primary features of AttackMapper are as follows:

  • Strength of automation

  • Increase team productivity by automating laborious manual activities

  • Timely warning

  • Receive notifications through email or API to facilitate quicker resolution.

  • Logical web portal

  • With accurate asset classification and dynamic maps, you can easily find what you're looking for.

  • Actual inventory

  • Maintain a continual, automated discovery process for the asset inventory

  • Third-party exposure

  • Scalable underpinning technology to quickly increase ecosystem visibility

  • An accurate inventory of the assets

  • You can quickly locate the digital items you need.

10. UpGuard​

UpGuard is a vulnerability management tool that aids in the detection of data exposures, the management of third-party risks, and the provision of cybersecurity risk management to assist enterprises in preventing data breaches. The platform includes vendor risk management, security rating systems, and questionnaires for security assessments. Organizations may automate security surveys and automatically map the detected hazards using UpGuard's risk assessment procedures.

Key Elements of UpGuard are listed below:

  • Complete monitoring of an organization's and its vendors' attack surfaces

  • Alerts and reporting on the security posture in real-time

  • Accelerated remediation processes

  • Reputable item;

  • Provides a thorough description of IT infrastructure;

  • API to enable automatic integrations.

  • A user interface with ease of use.

  • Gives a screenshot of all the conclusions in the detection summary.

Cons of UpGuard are given below:

  • The integrated ticketing system might use some improvement.

  • Missing functionalities include malware traffic.

  • The system for grading risks and vulnerabilities has to be more transparent and open.

  • Risk scores may change substantially as a result of algorithm upgrades, and new users may find it challenging to get used to the UI.

How does the user interface feel?

UpGuard provides ongoing vendor and organization attack surface monitoring. The platform delivers total attack surface protection against configuration errors and vulnerabilities that could lead to data breaches when combined with data leak detection capabilities.

Who are the intended users of UpGuard BreachSight?

Global enterprises can prevent data breaches, keep tabs on outside vendors, and strengthen their security posture with the aid of the cybersecurity platform UpGuard. It was created for IT security teams in companies of all sizes using proprietary security ratings, top-notch data leak detection capabilities, and potent remediation methods.

Pricing of UpGuard

The Basic plan for small organizations is $5,249; the Starter plan costs $15,749; the Professional plan costs $36,749; and the Corporate plan costs $83,999.

UpGuard VendorRisk

Monitoring of the attack surface by a third party that is ongoing and divides threats into six categories: phishing & malware, network security, reputation risk, website dangers, and email security.

Automated security questionnaires and accelerated risk assessment

being able to monitor vendor remediation progress

What are the Recommendations for ASM Tools?​

Don't forget that implementing any ASM solution won't work. Functional, technological, and operational requirements specific to your business must be met. For this reason, when assessing an ASM solution, ensure that it was designed with the following capabilities:

  • Discovery: An ASM solutions program's discovery phase will identify all of your digital assets, even those that your development team has long since forgotten, and map your attack surface. It is incorrect to refer to this as a "phase" because your assault surface must be continuously mapped out and monitored. Every time you modify a component of your system or add to your digital assets, your company creates a new attack vector.

  • Genuine Attacker's Viewpoint: Your chosen ASM tool must reveal assets that can be weaponized with the least amount of effort from the standpoint of an external attacker. Even though they are rated as highly critical, vulnerabilities that don't necessarily pose a serious threat since they don't provide an obvious attack path for adversaries should be ignored by the ASM tool.

  • Based on risk prioritization: These assets need to be prioritized by the ASM solution according to how likely it is that attackers will target them. Bonus points are awarded if the program can additionally identify known attacks, how simple it would be for attackers to find the assets, and whether the assets might be used after being exploited.

  • Practical Conclusions: The data from the ASM solution must include sufficient context, easily searchable information, and remediation instructions so that your security team can quickly enhance the cybersecurity posture of your business.

  • Constant Watching: Your attack surface is dynamic, thus it's crucial that the ASM solution continuously monitors your assets and vulnerabilities and notifies your security team right away if a serious problem is discovered.

  • Real-Time Monitoring: You and your teammates shouldn't manually check the ASM solution for the most recent modifications to the attack surface. The ideal ASM solution must include regular summary notifications for non-critical concerns (such as newly identified IPs) and real-time visibility and alarms for serious issues (such as newly discovered exploitable assets).

  • Integrations and APIs that are two-way: The top ASM solution teams can work with your current cybersecurity and information technology protocols. Integration is not available in all ASM programs, or it is expensive. Find out what integration options the ASM teams provide when comparing programs. If you want to automate these integrations, make sure the ASM tool has an API as well.

  • Assessment: The complete attack surface has now been mapped by your ASM solutions team, so it's time to look for flaws. The identification and prioritization of the attack vectors that are most likely to be targeted or weaponized is one of the most important tasks of an ASM solutions program. To lower risk, your ASM team will use a variety of ASM tools.

  • Remediation: The management team will troubleshoot and fix the critical issues found during the assessment phase of an ASM solutions program during the remediation phase. Offering vulnerability management tools that integrate smoothly with the other facets of your security posture is a crucial component of remediation. Open and ongoing contact with your current IT team and workers is required for this.

  • Customizations: There are generic, off-the-shelf ASM solutions available on the market, but you want to select a cybersecurity solution adapted to the particular attack surface of your firm.

  • Choosing a Host: Some businesses like hosting every component of their security network in-house, including their ASM solution. Others choose to have the attack surface management team handle every aspect of their ASM solutions.

  • Consumer Assistance: Before you make a decision, decide what you expect from your ASM team moving ahead. Do you desire constant access to someone who can assist with problem-solving or provide information? Make sure you take this factor into account when selecting the best ASM solution.

To get the most out of an ASM solution, look for additional strong features like reporting and role-based access control.