Author: Shaun Peapell, VP Global Threat Services
I have been in some kind of Security role for over 30 years and during that time the way we compromise a target or victim has remained fairly constant. The only thing that has changed is the naming or badging of the activities in which we conduct the compromisation. A lot of military terms have found their way into the cyber security world and are well placed to describe an activity or emphasis of an action.
A famous quote from Sun Tzu, an ancient Chinese military strategist, philosopher, and author of “The Art of War.”
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
Basically, this quote underscores the critical importance of knowledge, preparation, and strategic thinking in any competitive or confrontational context. It’s a reminder that victory is often a result of a combination of self-awareness, understanding the opposition, and making well-informed choices based on this knowledge. If you can gain the knowledge and understanding of what and where your Vulnerabilities may exist, you can begin to harden your defences. Secondly, if we can then understand who may be a likely attacker and how they might go about attacking us, for example, understanding their motivation, tactics and techniques, we can then be further elevated to potentially apply prioritization to what should be hardened first.
Before we go down the rabbit hole of kicking off scans and scratching our heads on what could be deemed as an attack Surface and the many methods of identification, we need to understand as an organization just what an attack surface is, especially what is relevant to you in your threat universe!
What is an Attack Surface?
Let’s hit this first part of the problem and look to answer to the question. In the context of IT security, an “attack surface” essentially refers to the sum total of all the points, avenues, and methods through which a malicious actor, attacker, hacker etc. could potentially exploit a system, network, application, person, process or organization’s vulnerabilities. Essentially, it represents all the possible entry points or attack vectors that a hacker or attacker could use to compromise the security of the target.
Now, why don’t we remind ourselves on the different ways an attacker could compromise a system, person or process. There are but three!
Typically the compromising of an organization’s asset is a result of:
- Brute Force,
- Exploitation,
Now when attempting to identify an attack surface, we really need to put ourselves in the shoes of an attacker. What would they be looking for? Considering the least skilled hacker to the most motivated and well-funded attacker.
The second thing we need to address is the perspective of an ‘Identified Attack Surface’. In the main, we can consider two distinct areas of operation, the ‘Internal Attack Surface’ and the ‘External Attack Surface’. Essentially both refer to different aspects of an organization’s potential vulnerabilities and points of attack in the context of cybersecurity, let’s take a quick look at each:
Internal Attack Surface:
The internal attack surface encompasses all the potential vulnerabilities within an organization’s internal network, systems and infrastructure. This includes everything inside the organization’s perimeter defences, such as firewalls and intrusion prevention systems. The internal attack surface takes into account threats that may come from within the organization, such as employees, contractors, and other personnel who have access to the network and systems. It also considers potential security gaps or vulnerabilities in the organization’s IT environment that could be exploited by insiders or attackers who manage to breach the perimeter defences.
Examples of components within the internal attack surface include:
- Employee devices and workstations,
- Internal servers and applications,
- Databases and data storage,
- Network devices and routers,
- Access controls and authentication mechanisms,
- Physical security measures within the organization’s premises,
Protecting against internal threats involves implementing strong access controls, monitoring for unusual activities, educating employees about security best practices, and maintaining proper separation of duties.
External Attack Surface:
The external attack surface encompasses all the potential vulnerabilities and entry points that are accessible from outside the organization’s network. It includes the points at which the organization’s systems and services interact with external entities, such as the internet, third-party services and remote users. External attackers target these entry points to gain unauthorized access or exploit vulnerabilities.
Examples of components within the external attack surface include:
- Internet-facing servers and applications,
- Publicly accessible APIs (Application Programming Interfaces),
- Domain names and DNS (Domain Name System) infrastructure,
- Email servers and communication channels,
- Remote access mechanisms like VPN (Virtual Private Network),
- Web applications accessible to the
Protecting against external threats involves implementing strong perimeter defences, such as firewalls, intrusion detection/prevention systems and web application firewalls. Regular vulnerability assessments, penetration testing and security monitoring are also important for identifying and addressing potential vulnerabilities in the external attack surface.
So, what we can say is that both the internal and external attack surfaces are critical considerations in a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy. Organisations need to address vulnerabilities in both areas to ensure strong defences against a wide range of potential threats, however, there are a large amount of overlaps.
Now let us take a moment to discuss how an attack surface can manifest itself and how an attack surface can be composed of various components, including:
- Software: This includes the operating systems, applications, services, and scripts that run on a system. Vulnerabilities in these components could provide opportunities for attackers to gain unauthorized
- Network Interfaces: These are the points at which a system interacts with internal, external and third-party networks. Attackers may target open ports, poorly configured firewalls, or insecure wireless networks to gain access.
- Authentication and Authorization Mechanisms: Weak or poorly implemented user authentication and authorization processes can provide attackers with ways to bypass security controls.
- Web Interfaces: Web applications can be targeted through techniques like SQL injection, cross- site scripting (XSS), and cross-site request forgery (CSRF).
- Physical Access Points: Physical access to a system or device can allow attackers to directly manipulate hardware or install malicious software.
- User Accounts: User accounts with weak passwords or insufficient access controls can be exploited by attackers to gain unauthorized
- APIs (Application Programming Interfaces): Insecure APIs can be leveraged by attackers to manipulate or retrieve data, disrupt services, or perform other malicious actions.
- Third-Party Dependencies: Libraries, frameworks, and other third-party components can introduce vulnerabilities that attackers may exploit.
- Misconfigured Systems: Poorly configured systems or devices can inadvertently expose sensitive information or provide unauthorized
- Data Storage: Inadequately protected data storage can lead to data breaches if attackers gain access to sensitive information.
Reducing the attack surface is a key aspect of enhancing cybersecurity. This involves identifying and mitigating vulnerabilities, implementing strong access controls, keeping software up-to-date, regularly testing systems for weaknesses, and following best practices in system administration and software development.
By understanding and managing the attack surface, organisations can better defend against potential threats and significantly improve their overall security posture.
Employees as an Attack Surface
All you hackers out there will fully understand that even the most hardened networks, systems and applications can fall fowl to one of the compromise methods mentioned earlier!
Deception is and will always be one of the biggest weapons in the attacker’s arsenal! Social engineering falls into many sub-categories, but typically are weaponized in the following areas:
- Phishing
- SMiShing
- Vishing
- Physical
- Social Trickery
Never at your peril should you underestimate or ignore the attack surface that exists around your employees, these attack vectors should always be considered a significant part of an organization’s attack surface in the realm of IT security.
This is due to the fact that employees interact with the organization’s systems, networks and data on a regular basis, and their actions can inadvertently or intentionally lead to security vulnerabilities. Here are some ways in which employees can contribute to an organization’s attack surface:
- Phishing and Social Engineering: Attackers often target employees with phishing emails, which may contain malicious links or If an employee falls for these scams, it can lead to malware infections, credential theft, or unauthorized access to systems.
- Weak Passwords: Employees who use weak or easily guessable passwords create a vulnerability that attackers can exploit. If an attacker gains access to an employee’s account, they might use it as a stepping stone to access more sensitive systems.
- Unauthorized Device Usage: Employees using personal devices or unauthorized hardware on the corporate network can introduce security risks, especially if these devices are not properly secured.
- Unpatched Software: If employees neglect to update their software applications and operating systems, they might be unknowingly exposing vulnerabilities that attackers could
- Misconfigured Security Settings: Employees who inadvertently misconfigure security settings on their devices or accounts could make it easier for attackers to gain access to sensitive
- Lack of Security Awareness: Employees who are not properly educated about security best practices may inadvertently engage in actions that compromise the organization’s security, such as clicking on suspicious links or sharing sensitive information.
- Insider Threats: Employees with malicious intentions can purposefully misuse their access privileges to steal data, disrupt services, or cause other types of harm.
- Access Control Mismanagement: Improper management of user access privileges can lead to unauthorized access or the escalation of privileges.
- Human Error: Even well-intentioned employees can make mistakes that result in security incidents, such as accidentally sending sensitive data to the wrong recipient or mishandling sensitive information.
To mitigate these risks and reduce employees’ impact on the attack surface, organisations can take several measures:
- Security Training and Awareness: Regular security awareness training helps employees recognize common threats like phishing and social engineering, enabling them to make informed decisions about security.
- Strong Authentication: Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) to add an extra layer of security to employee accounts.
- Access Control: Limit access to sensitive systems and data to only those employees who need it for their roles.
- Regular Patching and Updates: Ensure that employees keep their software and devices up-to- date to address known vulnerabilities.
- Clear Security Policies: Develop and communicate clear security policies that employees are expected to follow.
- Incident Response Plan: Have a well-defined incident response plan in place to address security incidents promptly and effectively.
- Monitoring and Logging: Implement monitoring and logging mechanisms to detect and respond to suspicious activities.
By taking these measures, organisations can minimize the impact of employees as an attack surface and create a more secure environment overall.
Attack Surface Management
Attack Surface Management involves the identification, assessment, and the much needed, reduction of potential vulnerabilities and entry points within an organization’s systems, networks, applications, personnel, processes and infrastructure. Essentially we need a framework to stitch all this information together, to make sense of the data and most importantly, have the ability to ask questions of the data!
Effectively employing attack surface management helps enhance an organization’s security posture and reduces the likelihood of successful cyberattacks. By having the ability to create and nourish a central point of collation, Attack Surface Management becomes a very powerful framework.
So let us take a look at how we can manage the identified attack surfaces:
Inventory and Discovery:
Once you have identified all assets, including hardware, software, applications, servers, network devices, and endpoints and personnel within your organization, you should look to categorize and group assets based on their criticality and importance.
Mapping Attack Surfaces:
- Determine the entry points through which attackers might gain access to your organization’s systems and data.
Vulnerability Assessments:
- Regularly scan your assets to identify vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and
- Prioritize vulnerabilities based on their severity and potential impact on your organization’s
Risk Assessments:
- Evaluate the potential impact of identified vulnerabilities on your organization’s systems, data and operations.
- Consider the likelihood of an attacker exploiting each Contextual and probable scoring should be utilized.
Risk Reduction Strategies:
- Implement mitigation measures to reduce the attack This can include patching vulnerabilities, updating software, and applying security configurations.
- Apply the principle of least privilege to limit access to sensitive
Continuous Monitoring:
- Implement monitoring mechanisms to detect unusual or suspicious activities within your network and systems.
- Leverage AI and Cyber Threat Intelligence to breed information rich decision-making and
Social Engineering Assessments and Security Awareness Training:
- Assess and educate employees about security best practices, phishing awareness, and social engineering risks.
- Encourage a culture of security consciousness within the
Third-Party Risk Management:
- Assess the security of third-party vendors and partners who interact with your
- Ensure that their security practices align with your organization’s
Regular Security Testing:
- Conduct regular penetration testing and Red Team exercises to simulate real-world attack scenarios and identify potential weaknesses.
Summary
In summary, Attack Surface Management (ASM) is the process of identifying, analyzing, and mitigating vulnerabilities and entry points within an organization’s operational environments. It involves mapping potential avenues through which attackers could infiltrate systems, assessing associated risks, and implementing measures to reduce the attack surface. ASM aims to enhance cybersecurity by minimizing points of vulnerability, thereby strengthening an organization’s defences and reducing the likelihood of successful cyberattacks. The final element of any solid ASM is the resultant actions carried out based on the results:
- Can keep thorough records of vulnerabilities, assessments, and mitigation
- Can rate, prioritize and enable precision data analysis of detailed
- Generate regular reports to communicate the organization’s security posture to stakeholders.
- Can continuously monitor and reassess your attack surfaces maturing your management
- Should enable your organization to stay informed about emerging threats, vulnerabilities, and best practices in cybersecurity.
- Aids your organization in maintaining a proactive approach, where you can effectively employ attack surface management to reduce the risk of cyberattacks and safeguard your organization’s critical assets and data.
The Rootshell Security Approach to ASM
Rootshell Security is the ideal partner for clients seeking comprehensive Attack Surface Management (ASM) assessments. Rootshell couples the power of the Rootshell’s Platform and the pedigree of the Security Consultants we employ.
We have provided the key points of expertise to Rootshell’s approach to ASM:
- Expertise and Experience: Rootshell Security boasts a team of highly skilled and experienced cybersecurity professionals. Our expertise covers a wide range of industries, technologies, and threat landscapes, ensuring that clients receive assessments tailored to their specific needs.
- Cutting-Edge Technology: Rootshell Security is empowered by our platform which also employs state-of-the-art tools and technologies to perform ASM assessments. By continuously updating our tool sets to stay ahead of emerging threats and vulnerabilities, we provide clients with accurate and up-to-date insights into their attack surface.
- Comprehensive Coverage: Rootshell Security takes a holistic approach to ASM assessments, considering all potential attack vectors, from network and application vulnerabilities to social engineering risks. This comprehensive coverage ensures that clients gain a thorough understanding of their security posture.
- Customized Solutions: Rootshell Security recognizes that every organisation is unique. We tailor the ASM assessments to align with a client’s specific business objectives, compliance requirements, and risk tolerance, providing actionable recommendations that are practical and relevant.
- Proactive Risk Mitigation: Beyond identifying vulnerabilities, Rootshell focuses on helping clients mitigate risks effectively. We provide actionable insights and prioritize vulnerabilities based on their potential impact and exploitability, enabling clients to address the most critical issues promptly.
- Reporting and Communication: Rootshell Security delivers clear and concise reports that facilitate easy understanding of assessment findings. Our team communicates findings and recommendations in a way that empowers clients to make informed decisions and take proactive steps to enhance their security posture.
- Compliance and Regulations: Rootshell Security is well-versed in industry-specific regulations and compliance requirements. Clients can rely on our expertise to ensure that the ASM assessments align with applicable standards, helping to meet regulatory obligations.
- Continuous Monitoring: ASM is an ongoing process, and Rootshell along with Rootshell’s Platform, offers continuous monitoring services to help clients stay ahead of evolving threats. Our proactive approach helps organisations maintain robust security in the face of ever-changing cybersecurity landscapes.
- Cost-Effective Solutions: Rootshell Security understands the importance of budget constraints. We offer cost-effective ASM assessment services without compromising on quality, making cybersecurity accessible to organisations of all sizes.
- Reputation and Trust: Rootshell Security has earned a strong reputation in the cybersecurity industry for delivering high-quality ASM assessments. Clients can trust our expertise and commitment to securing digital assets effectively.
In conclusion, clients should choose Rootshell Security for their Attack Surface Management assessments because of our deep expertise, cutting-edge technology, comprehensive approach, customization, and commitment to helping organisations proactively manage and mitigate security risks.
Rootshell Security’s reputation for excellence and cost-effective solutions make us a reliable partner in enhancing cybersecurity postures.
