Hybrid infrastructures by Rapid 7. Great for business, bad for managing a growing attack surface
Discover how to command your attack surface, gain greater visibility and manage the complexity
Hybrid infrastructure is very much the norm in global organisations – and it’s clear why. There’s greater flexibility, scalability, and efficiency to be enjoyed. Not just in how people can work, but across systems and processes. However, as sure as night always follows day, the hybrid shift brings with it a challenge you and your security team know all too well: how to manage an ever-expanding attack surface.
The ever-rising number of assets across cloud and on premises environments, combined with increasingly sophisticated cyber threats, leaves many organisations with visibility gaps and heightened risk exposure. And here’s the stat to back it up. Only 17 percent of organisations can clearly identify and inventory a majority (95% or more) of their assets. This according to a 2024 Innovation Insight from Gartner® on attack surface management.
So what’s a cyber professional to do?
Addressing this requires a strategic approach. In this article, we look at how external attack surface management, cyber asset attack surface management (CAASM), and digital risk protection can be your ally.
The data challenge: gaining visibility and managing complexity
A major hurdle in managing a hybrid environment is the sheer volume of data that needs to be synthesised. More assets mean more data to collect. More data equals more analysis. More analysis means you’re more likely to have to act. And you only have a finite amount of budget and resources… right? Despite the constant calls to ‘do more with less’ (cue eye roll). We all know visibility gaps arise because security data is siloed across different departments or systems.
So what’s the answer?
Unified systems right? But how do you do it?
Proactive action is the short answer. The longer answer is making sure you have the right tools and processes to help unify data from the myriad of sources that sit across your organisation. These provide you with the enriched context you need (using both native and third-party data) so that you can cut through the noise and focus on the most pressing risks. And bonus! Automating some of these processes not only saves time, but also improves your overall security posture by ensuring no asset is overlooked.
Proactive actions for better preparedness
We’ve put together some essential actions to help guide and prepare you for the hybrid infrastructure challenge:
- External attack surface management (EASM)
Begin with a robust exposure management framework. This means not only understanding the scope of your attack surface but proactively identifying and managing vulnerabilities across all your digital assets. EASM can help you identify and secure the digital assets your organisation may not directly manage but are exposed to via the public internet. This could include websites, IP addresses, third-party services and other online assets that attackers might take a fancy to. By continuously monitoring external assets, you can detect those pesky shadow IT projects, uncover gaps and ultimately, reduce the likelihood of exploitation.
For example, tools like Rapid7’s Surface Command can provide a continuous 360° view of your attack surface. This visibility provides proactive detection and prioritizes risks from endpoint to cloud, reducing the chances of blind spots attackers could exploit.
- Embrace cyber asset attack surface management (CAASM)
CAASM can help you get a unified, real-time view of your entire asset inventory. It consolidates data from multiple sources into one view, offering insights that might otherwise be difficult to achieve. Moreso, AI and ML can further optimize this process, automating threat detection and response to reduce the manual effort on your part. Now wouldn’t that be a welcome relief?
CAASM also helps you prioritize risks based on business context. Not all vulnerabilities are created equal, just some are more equal than others! And these slightly ‘more equal ones’ pose a greater risk depending on their location within the network. By contextualising assets and exposures, CAASM helps you allocate resources more effectively.
Integrate digital risk protection (DRP)
Adopting DRP helps you monitor and protect your external digital footprint. This includes staying ahead of potential phishing attacks, brand impersonations, or credential leaks. DRP can work in tandem with EASM and CAASM to provide comprehensive protection across both internal and external digital assets.
Automation advantage
As budget scrutiny increases, you’re having to find ways to do more with less (cue more eye roll!). Automating tasks like vulnerability scanning, alert triage and incident response can really reduce the burden on your human analyst s. Some AI-powered solutions can also detect patterns and predict attacks before they happen, which means you can act proactively rather than reactively.
By streamlining your workflows and reducing the need for manual intervention, you can be more efficient and maximise your security investments – that’s do more with less?!?
Command your attack surface
Managing an expanding attack surface in hybrid environments is no small or easy task. But with the right tools and strategies in place, you can proactively defend against threats. Exposure management—encompassing EASM, CAASM, and DRP—provides a complete approach to securing both your internal and external assets. And by embracing automation and AI, you and your teams can improve asset visibility, response times and make the most of your available resources. The ability to command your attack surface is an essential step in maintaining a strong security posture. Implementing these strategies can not only help you stay ahead of attackers but also ensures you can continue to innovate and grow your hybrid infrastructure securely (and do more with less 🙂).
Visit Rapid7 at Booth 03.B061
Catch our sessions at the show:
- Nov 6 at 13:15: “Hacked and encrypted within 60 mins” by Christiaan Beek, Senior Director Threat Intelligence, Rapid7
- Nov 7 at 13:15: “You’re under Attack, what’s next?” This session will be a real life cyber attack simulation with Joey van de Watering Security Solutions Engineer & Berry Rijnbeek Senior Security Solutions Engineer, Rapid7
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