In today’s digital landscape, organizations face a significant challenge managing their external attack surface, which often extends far beyond known and managed assets. Unidentified or forgotten digital assets, often referred to as shadow IT or blind spots, represent critical vulnerabilities that malicious actors can exploit. These include forgotten domains, orphaned subdomains, misconfigured cloud services, open ports, and other exposed infrastructure that IT and security teams may not even know exist.
Effectively reducing threat exposure requires continuous, automated discovery and mapping of this dynamic external surface. A robust solution is essential to provide comprehensive visibility into all internet-facing assets, regardless of where they are hosted or who manages them initially.
By deploying advanced capabilities for External Attack Surface Management (EASM), organizations gain the power to identify, classify, and monitor these previously unknown risks in real-time. This process involves actively scanning and analyzing the internet from an attacker’s perspective to uncover exposed assets and potential entry points that traditional security tools might miss.
Once assets are discovered, the solution should perform deep analysis to understand their associated risks, such as identifying outdated software, open vulnerabilities, or insecure configurations. This comprehensive understanding allows security teams to prioritize remediation efforts based on the potential impact and likelihood of exploitation.
Furthermore, constant monitoring is crucial because the external attack surface is not static; it changes as the business evolves, new services are deployed, and old ones are decommissioned. An effective EASM approach ensures that newly emerging risks are promptly detected, preventing attackers from leveraging fresh blind spots before defenders are aware of them.
Implementing a sophisticated EASM strategy significantly enhances an organization’s security posture. By illuminating the unseen parts of the digital footprint and providing actionable intelligence on exposed assets and vulnerabilities, security teams can proactively address weaknesses, minimize the attack surface, and dramatically reduce the likelihood of a successful external breach. This translates to improved resilience and a stronger defense against evolving cyber threats.
Source: https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2025/06/26/bitdefender-gravityzone-easm/
