Attack Surface Reduction

In the context of cybersecurity, attack surface reduction refers to the proactive process of minimizing the number of potential entry points (or "attack vectors") that an unauthorized user or attacker could use to gain access to a system, application, or network. It's about making an organization's digital and physical perimeter as small and secure as possible to decrease the likelihood of a successful cyberattack.

Think of it like securing a house: instead of just patching existing holes, attack surface reduction involves boarding up unnecessary windows, removing unused doors, and sealing any other openings that don't need to be there. The fewer entry points, the harder it is for someone to gain unauthorized access.

Attack surface reduction is a fundamental security strategy because it shifts the focus from simply detecting and responding to attacks to preventing them by limiting opportunities for exploitation.

Key aspects and techniques involved in attack surface reduction include:

• Minimizing Software and Services:

  • Uninstalling Unnecessary Software: Removing applications, libraries, and components that are not essential for business operations. Each piece of software represents potential vulnerabilities.

  • Disabling Unused Features/Services: Turning off unnecessary ports, protocols, and services on servers, workstations, and network devices. Many operating systems and applications come with default services enabled that are not always necessary and can introduce security risks.

  • Removing Default Credentials: Changing all default passwords and usernames on newly deployed devices and software.

• Network Segmentation:

  • Isolating Critical Systems: Separating highly sensitive data and applications from less critical parts of the network. If one segment is breached, the attacker cannot easily move laterally to other vital areas.

  • Micro-segmentation: Applying granular security controls down to individual workloads or applications to limit lateral movement even further.

• Least Privilege Principle:

  • Limiting User Permissions: Granting users and applications only the minimum necessary access rights required to perform their functions. This reduces the impact if an account is compromised.

  • Restricting Administrative Access: Highly limiting who has administrative privileges and when they can be used.

• Patch Management and Configuration Hardening:

  • Regular Patching: Consistently applying security updates and patches to all operating systems, applications, and firmware to close known vulnerabilities. While not strictly a "reduction" of the number of entry points, it reduces the effectiveness of existing ones.

  • Secure Configurations: Configuring systems and applications according to security best practices (e.g., disabling unnecessary features, strong password policies, secure protocols).

• Reducing Public Exposure:

  • Limiting Internet-Facing Assets: Minimizing the number of servers, applications, and services that are directly accessible from the public internet. Using firewalls, VPNs, and proxies to control external access.

  • Monitoring Publicly Available Information (OSINT): Actively searching for and removing sensitive organizational data (e.g., internal documents, user lists, network diagrams) that might be inadvertently exposed on public websites, code repositories, or cloud storage.

  • Domain Management: Monitoring for expired domains, unused subdomains, or typo-squatted domains that could be used for attacks.

• Data Minimization:

  • Collecting Less Data: Only collecting and storing data that is necessary for business operations.

  • Data Retention Policies: Securely deleting data that is no longer required, reducing the amount of sensitive information that could be exposed in a breach.

• Application Security:

  • Secure Coding Practices: Developing applications with security in mind from the ground up, minimizing vulnerabilities in the code itself.

  • Input Validation: Thoroughly validating all user inputs to prevent injection attacks (e.g., SQL injection, XSS).

By systematically implementing these strategies, organizations can significantly shrink their attack surface, making it much more difficult for attackers to find and exploit weaknesses, thereby enhancing their overall cybersecurity posture.

ThreatNG enables "Complete External Attack Surface Reduction. No Hidden Gaps." by providing "Total External Visibility. Zero Blind Spots." and "Frictionless Security. Seamless Integration (into your workflow, not your network)." It offers the most accurate and complete data for identifying what needs to be reduced on the external attack surface, as it performs purely external, unauthenticated discovery, seeing the attack surface from an attacker's perspective, and uncovering "digital blind spots" that traditional tools might miss.

Here's a detailed explanation of how ThreatNG helps with attack surface reduction:

External Discovery

ThreatNG's core strength for attack surface reduction lies in its purely external, unauthenticated discovery, which means it uses no connectors. This approach is crucial for "Complete External Attack Surface Reduction. No Hidden Gaps," because it identifies all publicly exposed assets and potential entry points without relying on internal access or agents that can create blind spots. For example, ThreatNG can discover forgotten test servers left exposed to the internet, unsanctioned cloud instances, or misconfigured legacy systems that might otherwise be unknown to the security team. By uncovering these "digital blind spots," ThreatNG provides the comprehensive inventory needed to identify assets that should be removed or secured to reduce the attack surface.

External Assessment

ThreatNG's detailed external assessment capabilities provide actionable intelligence that directly informs efforts to reduce the attack surface. These assessments highlight specific areas for reduction:

• Web Application Hijack Susceptibility: ThreatNG analyzes parts of a web application accessible from the outside world to identify potential entry points for attackers. If it identifies an exposed administrative interface or outdated web server components, the actionable intelligence is to remove or secure these public-facing access points, directly reducing the attack surface.

• Subdomain Takeover Susceptibility: ThreatNG evaluates this by analyzing subdomains, DNS records, and SSL certificate statuses. Suppose ThreatNG detects a subdomain with a dangling DNS record pointing to a non-existent service. In that case, the immediate recommendation is to remove that DNS record or reclaim the subdomain, thereby eliminating a critical attack surface vector.

• Data Leak Susceptibility: This is derived from Cloud and SaaS Exposure, Dark Web Presence (Compromised Credentials), and Domain Intelligence. ThreatNG's assessment can identify publicly exposed cloud storage buckets containing sensitive data. The actionable intelligence here is to immediately secure the permissions on these buckets or remove the sensitive data, directly reducing the attack surface related to data exposure.

• Cyber Risk Exposure: This considers certificates, subdomain headers, vulnerabilities, and sensitive ports. ThreatNG can identify publicly accessible sensitive ports (e.g., RDP, SSH) that should not be exposed. The recommendation would be to close these ports or restrict access, directly reducing a critical part of the network attack surface. Code Secret Exposure, factored into this score, identifies code repositories and their exposure levels, examining the contents for sensitive data. Suppose ThreatNG finds an API key or database credentials accidentally committed to a public GitHub repository. In that case, the actionable intelligence is to immediately revoke those credentials and remove them from the public repository, significantly shrinking the code-related attack surface.

• Mobile App Exposure: ThreatNG evaluates the exposure of an organization’s mobile apps through their discovery in marketplaces and by identifying sensitive content, such as access credentials and Security Credentials, within them. Suppose an exposed API key or a private SSH key is found hardcoded in a public mobile app. In that case, the actionable intelligence is to immediately revoke those credentials and update the app to remove the sensitive information, reducing the mobile application attack surface.

Reporting

ThreatNG's reporting capabilities are designed to facilitate "Complete External Attack Surface Reduction. No Hidden Gaps." by providing actionable intelligence. Reports include Risk levels to help organizations prioritize their security efforts and allocate resources more effectively by focusing on the most critical risks. They also offer Reasoning to provide context and insights into identified issues, and, critically, Recommendations to offer practical advice and guidance on reducing risk. This structured information directly translates into a roadmap for reducing the attack surface.

Continuous Monitoring

ThreatNG provides continuous monitoring of the external attack surface, digital risk, and security ratings of all organizations. This constant vigilance ensures that as an organization's digital footprint evolves or new exposures emerge, ThreatNG detects them in real-time. This continuous flow of information is essential for ongoing attack surface reduction, ensuring that any new or re-emerging vulnerabilities are identified immediately for remediation.

Investigation Modules

ThreatNG's investigation modules offer deep dives into external information, specifically designed to uncover and detail elements of the attack surface that need reduction:

• Domain Intelligence: This includes DNS Intelligence (Domain Record Analysis, Domain Name Permutations, Web3 Domains), Email Intelligence (Security Presence, Format Predictions, Harvested Emails), and Subdomain Intelligence (HTTP Responses, Header Analysis, Server Headers, Cloud Hosting, Content Identification of Admin Pages, APIs, Development Environments, VPNs, and exposed Ports like IoT/OT, Industrial Control Systems, Databases, Remote Access Services). ThreatNG can identify forgotten or unused subdomains, misconfigured DNS records, or publicly exposed development environments that constitute part of the attack surface and should be addressed. For example, finding an exposed database port or an unneeded VPN portal would directly lead to a recommendation to close or secure these points.

• Sensitive Code Exposure: This module discovers public code repositories and uncovers digital risks like exposed Access Credentials (e.g., AWS Access Key ID, API Keys, SSH Password), Security Credentials (e.g., Cryptographic Keys, Private SSH key), and various Configuration Files (e.g., Azure service configuration, potential Linux shadow file, Docker configuration). Each identified exposure provides direct, actionable intelligence to revoke credentials, remove sensitive files from public repositories, or secure configurations, thereby significantly reducing the attack surface.

• Search Engine Exploitation: ThreatNG discovers robots.txt and security.txt files and helps investigate susceptibility to exposing errors, sensitive information, privileged folders, public passwords, susceptible files, and user data via search engines. If search engines are indexing sensitive directories or internal documents, the actionable intelligence is to update robots.txt or remove the content, directly reducing the publicly searchable attack surface.

• Cloud and SaaS Exposure: ThreatNG identifies Sanctioned, Unsanctioned, and Impersonated Cloud Services, as well as open and exposed cloud buckets across AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. It also identifies various SaaS implementations. Suppose an open AWS S3 bucket is detected. In that case, the immediate actionable intelligence is to secure the bucket's permissions or remove the unnecessary data, effectively reducing that part of the cloud attack surface.

• Online Sharing Exposure: ThreatNG detects the Presence of Organizational Entities within online code-sharing platforms, such as Pastebin, GitHub Gist, and Scribd. If internal code snippets or sensitive documents are found to be publicly shared, the recommendation is to remove them, thereby directly reducing this aspect of the digital footprint.

• Archived Web Pages: ThreatNG identifies various archived files, directories, subdomains, user names, and admin pages on the organization’s online presence. This can reveal forgotten or historical exposures that still constitute a risk and should be addressed to reduce the attack surface.

Intelligence Repositories (DarCache)

ThreatNG's continuously updated intelligence repositories provide vital context for attack surface reduction:

• Vulnerabilities (DarCache Vulnerability): This comprehensive repository includes NVD data (Attack Complexity, Attack Interaction, Attack Vector, Impact scores, CVSS Score, and Severity), EPSS data (a probabilistic estimate of exploitation likelihood), and KEV data (vulnerabilities actively exploited in the wild). It also provides Verified Proof-of-Concept (PoC) Exploits directly linked to known vulnerabilities (DarCache eXploit). This intelligence is highly actionable for reducing the attack surface. By knowing which vulnerabilities are actively being exploited and their potential impact, organizations can prioritize patching or disabling affected services that form part of their attack surface, reducing the risk of exploitation.

Synergy with Complementary Solutions

ThreatNG's emphasis on "Complete External Attack Surface Reduction. No Hidden Gaps." is significantly enhanced when working with complementary solutions:

• Vulnerability Management (VM) Solutions: ThreatNG's identification of external vulnerabilities, especially those with high EPSS scores or KEV status, provides actionable intelligence that VM solutions can use to prioritize patching and configuration hardening efforts. This ensures that the most critical externally exposed vulnerabilities are addressed first, directly contributing to attack surface reduction.

• Network Access Control (NAC) Solutions: If ThreatNG identifies inadvertently exposed services or ports, NAC solutions can then be used to enforce granular network access policies, restricting access to only necessary users and devices, thereby reducing the network attack surface.

• Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) and Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP): ThreatNG's Cloud and SaaS Exposure module provides an external view of misconfigurations or exposed services. This information can be fed into CSPM tools, which can then automatically enforce secure configurations or recommend changes to reduce the cloud attack surface. For example, if ThreatNG identifies an open S3 bucket, a CSPM tool can immediately flag it for remediation.

• Digital Risk Protection (DRP) Platforms: As an all-in-one external attack surface management, digital risk protection, and security ratings solution, ThreatNG provides specific insights into exposed sensitive data, code, and mobile app vulnerabilities that can be integrated into broader DRP strategies. This helps organizations proactively remove or secure publicly exposed sensitive information, directly reducing their digital footprint and attack surface.

• Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) / Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) Systems: The actionable intelligence from ThreatNG's discovery and assessment, such as the identification of shadow IT or exposed credentials, can trigger automated playbooks in SOAR systems. This could involve automatically initiating a ticket for asset decommissioning, enforcing stricter access controls, or revoking leaked credentials, contributing to rapid attack surface reduction.

• Application Security (AppSec) Tools: While ThreatNG identifies exposed web applications and mobile apps, its findings, particularly around code secret exposure or insecure configurations, can inform AppSec teams. This allows them to prioritize code reviews or implement secure development lifecycle practices that reduce application-specific vulnerabilities, further shrinking the attack surface.