Outside-In Telemetry
Outside-in telemetry is a cybersecurity data-collection strategy that gathers performance, security, and operational metrics from the perspective of an external user or potential adversary. Unlike traditional "inside-out" telemetry, which relies on logs generated by internal servers and agents, outside-in telemetry focuses on how an organization’s digital assets appear and behave on the public internet.
By monitoring the "digital perimeter," this approach provides critical visibility into the external attack surface, enabling organizations to identify vulnerabilities before they are exploited.
What is the Purpose of Outside-In Telemetry?
The primary objective of outside-in telemetry is to replicate the "adversary view." Security teams use this data to understand their organization’s exposure without the bias of internal configurations. It answers fundamental questions such as:
What assets are actually reachable from the public internet?
How do our web applications respond to external requests?
Are there unauthorized or "Shadow IT" services running that internal tools have missed?
Is our brand or sensitive data being discussed or traded on external forums?
Key Data Sources for Outside-In Telemetry
Outside-in telemetry draws from a diverse range of public and semi-public sources to build a holistic picture of external risk.
External Vulnerability Scans: Automated probes that check public-facing IP addresses and domains for open ports, misconfigured services, and unpatched software.
DNS and Domain Intelligence: Monitoring registration records, "dangling" DNS entries, and newly registered domains that mimic the organization’s brand.
Web Application Metrics: Measuring the availability, latency, and security headers (like CSP or HSTS) of web properties from various global locations.
Dark Web and Underground Monitoring: Collecting "chatter" or mentions of company assets, employee credentials, or leaked data from illicit marketplaces and forums.
Certificate Transparency Logs: Tracking the issuance of SSL/TLS certificates to identify new subdomains or potential "shadow" infrastructure.
Social Media and News Feeds: Monitoring for brand impersonation, executive targeting, or sensitive information leaks across public platforms.
Benefits of the Outside-In Approach
Integrating outside-in telemetry into a security program offers several strategic advantages over purely internal monitoring.
Shadow IT Discovery: It is often the only way to find rogue cloud instances or marketing microsites created without the IT department's knowledge.
Validation of Internal Controls: It provides a "reality check" on internal security policies. For example, if an internal policy states that Port 22 (SSH) is blocked, outside-in telemetry can verify if that block is actually effective from the internet.
Reduced "Blind Spot" Risk: Attackers often exploit the gaps between internal monitoring tools. Outside-in telemetry bridges these gaps by looking at the entire digital footprint as a single entity.
Third-Party Risk Management: Organizations can use this telemetry to assess the security hygiene of their vendors and partners without requiring access to their internal networks.
Outside-In vs. Inside-Out Telemetry
While both methods are essential, they provide different types of intelligence.
Inside-Out Telemetry: Provides high-fidelity data on what is happening within the system (e.g., CPU usage, internal database logs, endpoint process execution). It is deep but limited to what is already known and managed.
Outside-In Telemetry: Provides breadth and context on how the system is exposed (e.g., public vulnerabilities, brand risk, external accessibility). It is wide-reaching and excels at finding the unknown.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does outside-in telemetry require installing agents?
No. One of the main advantages of outside-in telemetry is that it is "agentless." It uses public protocols and external scanning engines to gather data, making it non-intrusive and easy to deploy across vast environments.
Is outside-in telemetry the same as Digital Risk Protection (DRP)?
Outside-in telemetry is the foundational data layer that powers Digital Risk Protection. DRP uses this telemetry to identify and mitigate specific risks like brand damage, phishing sites, and leaked credentials.
How often should outside-in telemetry be collected?
Because the external attack surface changes constantly—such as when a developer spins up a new cloud instance—this telemetry should be collected continuously or at a very high frequency to prevent "visibility gaps."
Can outside-in telemetry replace internal logging?
No. It is a complementary strategy. You need internal logging to understand how a breach is progressing once an attacker is inside, and outside-in telemetry to understand where they are likely to try to break in.
Leveraging ThreatNG for Comprehensive Outside-In Telemetry
Outside-in telemetry is a strategic data-gathering approach that monitors an organization's digital footprint from the perspective of an external observer or adversary. ThreatNG serves as a powerful engine for this strategy by providing an all-in-one platform for external attack surface management, digital risk protection, and security ratings.
By using purely external, unauthenticated discovery and assessment, ThreatNG generates a continuous stream of high-fidelity telemetry that identifies vulnerabilities, exposures, and adversarial tactics without needing internal access or agents.
Core Capabilities Powering Outside-In Telemetry
ThreatNG's architecture is designed to capture a broad range of external signals and transform them into actionable intelligence for enterprise risk management.
Purely External Discovery
ThreatNG begins the telemetry cycle with purely external unauthenticated discovery. This process requires no connectors or agents, ensuring that the telemetry reflects exactly what is visible to a motivated attacker on the open internet.
Autonomous Asset Mapping: Starting with a simple seed, such as a company domain or IP range, the platform identifies all associated subdomains, cloud instances, and digital assets.
Shadow IT Detection: Because discovery is unauthenticated, it excels at identifying "Shadow IT"—assets created by departments outside the central IT security team's knowledge or control.
Zero-Configuration Setup: Telemetry collection can begin immediately, as no complex internal integrations are required to map the attack surface.
Advanced External Assessment
ThreatNG performs deep-dive assessments across multiple digital vectors, assigning security ratings from A (Good) to F (Bad) to quantify external risk.
Subdomain Takeover Susceptibility: The platform uses DNS enumeration to identify CNAME records pointing to third-party services like AWS, GitHub, or Shopify. It then performs a specific validation check to confirm a "dangling DNS" state where an attacker could hijack the subdomain.
Web Application Hijack Susceptibility: ThreatNG analyzes subdomains for the presence of critical security headers, such as Content-Security-Policy (CSP), HSTS, and X-Frame-Options. A lack of these headers is a key telemetry signal indicating high susceptibility to injection or session hijacking.
Non-Human Identity (NHI) Exposure: This assessment quantifies the risk from high-privilege machine identities, such as leaked API keys or system credentials found in public code repositories.
Positive Security Indicators: The platform also reports on the presence of beneficial controls like Web Application Firewalls (WAF) and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), providing a balanced view of the security posture.
Deep-Dive Investigation Modules
ThreatNG features specialized investigation modules that allow security teams to drill into specific telemetry signals for granular risk analysis.
Domain and DNS Intelligence
Web3 Domain Discovery: Proactively checks for the existence of Web3 domains (e.g., .eth, .crypto) to detect potential brand impersonation or phishing schemes.
Domain Name Permutations: Detects manipulations of domain names, such as homoglyphs, bit squatting, and TLD swaps. For example, identifying a registered domain that uses a lookalike character to trick users into trusting a fake login portal.
Exposure and Leak Detection
Sensitive Code Discovery: Scans public code repositories for secrets like AWS Access Keys, private SSH keys, and Stripe API keys.
Social Media Discovery: Scans platforms like Reddit and LinkedIn to identify organizational mentions and employee identity mapping that could be exploited for targeted social engineering.
Technology Stack Identification: Identifies nearly 4,000 different technologies—from cloud infrastructure to AI platforms like OpenAI—helping organizations understand their technical attack surface.
Continuous Monitoring and Intelligence Repositories
ThreatNG provides automated, continuous monitoring of an organization’s external attack surface and security ratings, ensuring telemetry is always up to date.
Intelligence Repositories (DarCache)
The platform maintains continuously updated repositories, known as DarCache, which provide deep contextual intelligence.
DarCache Ransomware: Tracks over 100 ransomware gangs and their activities to provide early warning signals.
DarCache Vulnerability: Integrates data from the NVD, KEV, and EPSS to help teams prioritize remediation based on real-world exploitability and the likelihood of future weaponization.
DarCache Dark Web: Provides a sanitized, navigable copy of dark web content, allowing teams to safely investigate where their brand or data might be mentioned by threat actors.
Reporting and Strategic Output
ThreatNG transforms technical telemetry into strategic narratives for different stakeholders.
Executive and Technical Reports: High-level ratings (A-F) are provided for leadership, while detailed findings are mapped to MITRE ATT&CK techniques to prioritize remediation.
GRC Mappings: Findings are automatically mapped to major compliance frameworks like PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, NIST CSF, and ISO 27001.
Embedded Knowledgebase: Reports include reasoning and practical recommendations for mitigation, bridging the gap between discovery and action.
Working with Complementary Solutions
ThreatNG serves as a foundational "outside-in" intelligence layer, significantly enhancing the effectiveness of other security tools.
Collaboration with Internal Vulnerability Scanners
ThreatNG provides complementary solutions like internal vulnerability scanners with a prioritized list of externally facing assets and "Pivot Points" discovered via DarChain. This allows internal teams to focus their scanners on the specific systems most likely to be targeted by an adversary for initial access.
Integration with SIEM and XDR Platforms
By feeding its Legal-Grade Attribution and high-fidelity technical telemetry into a SIEM or XDR platform, ThreatNG helps eliminate "alert fatigue". This cooperation provides the necessary business context to distinguish between a routine technical event and a high-fidelity external threat, solving the "Contextual Certainty Deficit".
Enhancing Security Awareness Training
Findings from ThreatNG’s Reddit and LinkedIn discovery modules can be used to customize training programs. By showing employees exactly how their public data could be used in a persona-based narrative attack, organizations can create highly effective and relevant training exercises.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does ThreatNG support Outside-In Telemetry?
ThreatNG continuously gathers security signals from the perspective of an external attacker, identifying exposed assets, vulnerabilities, and digital risks from the open internet, deep web, and dark web.
What is "Legal-Grade Attribution"?
Legal-Grade Attribution is the process of using ThreatNG’s Context Engine™ to correlate technical security findings with decisive business, financial, and legal context. This transforms ambiguous data into irrefutable evidence for CISOs to justify security investments.
Can ThreatNG detect exposed employee information?
Yes. ThreatNG uses modules like LinkedIn Discovery and Reddit Discovery to identify organizational mentions and employee identity mapping that could be exploited by threat actors.
