4 Steps to Knowing Your Exploitable Attack Surface

According to a Cisco CISO Benchmark survey, 17% of organizations had 100,000 or more daily security alerts in 2020, a number that has only increased since. In 2021, a record-breaking 20,137 Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) were discovered, surpassing the 18,325 CVEs reported in 2020. This sharp rise in vulnerabilities reflects the growing complexity of digital infrastructures and the corresponding expansion of organizations’ exploitable attack surfaces.

Source: Cisco 2020 CISO Benchmark Survey

For defenders, this exponential growth presents a dual challenge: sifting through a sea of vulnerabilities and avoiding cybersecurity burnout. It’s important to note, however, that “vulnerable” doesn’t always mean “exploitable.” Research shows that for every 100 vulnerabilities, only one is likely to be exploitable. The key to effective security lies in focusing on these exploitable attack surfaces—those that pose the greatest threat to your organization.

So, how can security teams achieve this focus? Below, we outline four steps to help you identify and manage your exploitable attack surface.

Step 1: Take the Adversarial Perspective

The only way to truly filter through a sea of vulnerabilities is to attempt to exploit them—just as an adversary would. This approach helps security teams identify the most critical attack vectors, pointing directly to an organization’s weakest link. By adopting this adversarial perspective, IT teams can:

• Focus remediation efforts on vulnerabilities with the highest business impact.

• Avoid spreading limited resources too thin across low-priority vulnerabilities.

• Transition from reactive to proactive security practices.

Taking an attacker’s point of view ensures that organizations prioritize the vulnerabilities most likely to lead to breaches, allowing for manageable and impactful remediation efforts.

For a deeper dive into how attackers exploit vulnerabilities, check out our detailed Continuous Security Validation blog.

Step 2: Expand Coverage of Your Exploitable Attack Surface

Adversaries exploit vulnerabilities wherever they find them, often using combinations of techniques to progress toward critical assets. Security validation must match this full-spectrum approach. A comprehensive penetration test should include:

• Attack emulation frameworks for security controls.

• Testing vulnerabilities and credential strength.

• Audits of network equipment and privileged access.

• Emulation of lateral movement steps.

By emulating real-world attack paths, security teams can identify exploitable gaps that static vulnerability scans may overlook, effectively managing their exploitable attack surface. This comprehensive approach ensures organizations address risks beyond basic vulnerabilities, such as cloud security risks.

Step 3: Automate, Automate, Automate

In today’s fast-paced digital environment, periodic and manual security tests are no longer sufficient. To keep up with dynamic attack surfaces and emerging threats like ransomware and Log4Shell, continuous and automated testing is essential. Automation enables organizations to:

• Gain on-demand visibility into their assets and exposures.

• Validate defenses against evolving threats in real time.

• Scale security validation without overwhelming IT teams.

For instance, automated testing platforms like Automated Security Validation (ASV) emulate adversary tactics to expose security gaps while prioritizing remediation efforts. Learn more about the importance of Automated Penetration Testing.

 Automated Security Validation for Managing Your Exploitable Attack Surface

Automated Security Validation represents the next frontier in cybersecurity. By combining continuous coverage with risk prioritization, ASV enables organizations to:

• Understand their true security exposures.

• Focus on vulnerabilities that pose the greatest business risk.

• Implement efficient, impact-driven remediation strategies.

With Automated Security Validation, security teams can:

• Visualize and assess their exposure in real time.

• Validate the entire security stack using real-world techniques.

• Emulate lateral expansion risks, from on-premises to cloud environments.

• Receive immediate reporting with prioritized remediation recommendations.

Originally published on Dark Reading.