Overview#
Continuous discovery of exposed assets and weak points across the organization. Combines scanning, external monitoring, and remediation workflows to reduce internet-facing risk.
Core objectives#
- Establish shared definitions of Attack Surface Management for security, engineering, and leadership teams.
- Connect Attack Surface Management activities to measurable risk reduction and resilience goals.
- Provide onboarding notes so new team members can quickly understand how Attack Surface Management works here.
Implementation notes#
- Identify the primary owner for Attack Surface Management, the data sources involved, and the systems affected.
- Document the minimum viable process, tooling, and runbooks that keep Attack Surface Management healthy.
- Map Attack Surface Management practices to standards such as ISO/IEC 27001, NIST CSF, or CIS Controls.
Operational signals#
- Leading indicators: early warnings that Attack Surface Management might degrade (e.g., backlog growth, noisy alerts, or missed SLAs).
- Lagging indicators: realized impact that shows Attack Surface Management failed or needs investment (e.g., incidents, audit findings).
- Feedback loops: retrospectives and metrics reviews that tune Attack Surface Management continuously.
Related practices#
- Align Attack Surface Management with defense-in-depth planning, threat modeling, and disaster recovery tests.
- Communicate updates to stakeholders through concise briefs, dashboards, and internal FAQs.
- Pair Attack Surface Management improvements with tabletop exercises to validate expectations.