PCI Attack Surface Discovery
In cybersecurity, PCI Attack Surface Discovery refers to the comprehensive and continuous process of identifying and cataloging all internet-facing assets and digital properties that could potentially impact the security of an organization's Cardholder Data Environment (CDE). The CDE is a network or system segment that stores, processes, or transmits sensitive payment card data.
The primary goal of PCI Attack Surface Discovery is to provide an "attacker-eye view" to find all potential entry points, vulnerabilities, and information exposures that a malicious actor could leverage from outside the organization's perimeter to compromise the CDE. This goes beyond traditional internal asset management and focuses on what is visible and accessible from public networks.
Key elements involved in PCI Attack Surface Discovery include:
Public IP Addresses and Ranges: Identifying all IP addresses owned or used by the organization that are accessible from the internet, particularly those hosting services related to payment processing.
Domain and Subdomain Enumeration: Discovering all registered domains and their associated subdomains, as these often host web applications, APIs, or other services that might interact with cardholder data.
Open Ports and Services: Cataloging all open ports on public-facing IP addresses and identifying the services running on them helps reveal potential entry points that might be misconfigured or vulnerable.
Web Applications and APIs: Identifying all public-facing web applications, mobile application backend APIs, and other application programming interfaces that handle or access payment card data, including their versions and known vulnerabilities.
Cloud and SaaS Assets: Discovering instances of cloud services (e.g., S3 buckets, Azure blobs) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications that store or process CHD, or could provide access to it, and assessing their public configurations.
Code Repositories and Data Leaks: Searching public code hosting platforms (like GitHub) for inadvertently exposed source code that might contain sensitive credentials, configurations, or payment logic. This also extends to monitoring the dark web and public data dumps for leaked organizational or cardholder data.
Digital Brand Impersonations: Identifying look-alike domains, typosquatted sites, or fraudulent social media profiles that could be used for phishing attacks targeting employees with CDE access or customers, indirectly impacting PCI security.
Third-Party Connections: Mapping and assessing the external security posture of third-party vendors, partners, and service providers with direct or indirect access to the organization's CDE, as their vulnerabilities represent an extended attack surface.
PCI Attack Surface Discovery is a continuous process, as an organization's external footprint can change rapidly with new deployments, infrastructure shifts, and evolving threat landscapes. An organization can proactively reduce risk, prioritize remediation efforts, and enhance its overall PCI DSS compliance posture by maintaining an up-to-date and comprehensive inventory of its external attack surface relevant to PCI.
ThreatNG, an all-in-one external attack surface management, digital risk protection, and security ratings solution, can significantly help organizations with PCI Attack Surface Discovery by providing a continuous, attacker-eye view of their digital footprint related to cardholder data.
External Discovery & Continuous Monitoring
ThreatNG performs purely external, unauthenticated discovery, identifying assets and risks from an attacker's perspective without needing connectors. This is critical for PCI Attack Surface Discovery because it uncovers unknown or rogue assets that might be storing, processing, or transmitting cardholder data (CHD) and thus fall within PCI DSS scope. ThreatNG monitors an organization's external attack surface, digital risk, and security ratings. This ongoing monitoring ensures that new exposures or changes to existing assets that could impact PCI DSS compliance are immediately identified, providing real-time visibility into the organization's attack surface.
Examples of ThreatNG's help:
Identifying Undocumented Applications: ThreatNG can discover "Applications Identified" and login pages that the organization may not have formally tracked. If these applications handle CHD, their discovery is vital for PCI Attack Surface Discovery, ensuring they are inventoried and secured according to PCI DSS Requirement 1.4.2. ThreatNG's continuous discovery helps ensure all such interfaces are known, tracked, and subject to proper security governance.
Detecting New Exposures from Misconfigurations: Through continuous monitoring, ThreatNG can identify newly exposed services on non-standard ports, as indicated by "Custom Port Scan" results or "Default Port Scan" findings. If these ports are open to services that could lead to the CDE, ThreatNG's immediate identification allows for proactive security measures, preventing potential entry points for attackers. This directly relates to PCI DSS Requirement 1.1.6 (restricting traffic to necessary ports).
ThreatNG performs a variety of external assessments that directly contribute to PCI Attack Surface Discovery by highlighting potential attack vectors and data leakage points from an external perspective:
Cyber Risk Exposure: This assessment considers parameters like certificates, subdomain headers, vulnerabilities, and sensitive ports. It also factors in "Code Secret Exposure," which involves discovering code repositories and investigating their contents for sensitive data. These are all critical components for understanding external exposure that could lead to CDE compromise.
Example: ThreatNG detecting "Invalid Certificates" on a public-facing web application highlights a weakness in cryptographic protection. This contributes to PCI Attack Surface Discovery by revealing a potential vulnerability that could be exploited for man-in-the-middle attacks, potentially affecting CHD in transit (PCI DSS 4.2.1).
Example: The discovery of "Private IPs Found" in public DNS reveals internal network architecture. ThreatNG identifies this information, which can bypass network segmentation. This makes it a critical component of PCI Attack Surface Discovery as it exposes systems crucial for protecting cardholder data (PCI DSS 1.1.1).
Cloud and SaaS Exposure: ThreatNG evaluates sanctioned and unsanctioned cloud services and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions, including identifying "Open Exposed Cloud Buckets" of AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. This is crucial for PCI Attack Surface Discovery, as cloud environments are frequently used for storing or processing CHD, and unknown or misconfigured instances pose a significant risk.
Example: ThreatNG discovering "Files in Open Cloud Buckets" directly highlights a data exposure risk that could include CHD. This finding immediately adds a critical, potentially overlooked, component to PCI Attack Surface Discovery that must be addressed per PCI DSS 3.1.1 (retain cardholder data only if required).
Mobile App Exposure: ThreatNG evaluates how exposed an organization's mobile apps are through discovery in marketplaces and by analyzing their content for "Access Credentials," "Security Credentials," and "Platform Specific Id” Mobile applications can directly interact with or expose CHD.
Example: ThreatNG identifying "Mobile Application Exposure Sensitive Information Found" means sensitive data, such as APIs or basic auth credentials, are present within mobile applications. This finding is critical for PCI Attack Surface Discovery, pointing to potential violations of PCI DSS requirements related to sensitive authentication data storage (PCI DSS 3.2).
Breach & Ransomware Susceptibility: This assessment considers exposed sensitive ports, private IPs, known vulnerabilities, compromised credentials, and ransomware events/gang activity. These findings directly inform PCI Attack Surface Discovery by identifying specific points of weakness and active threats that attackers could target to compromise the CDE.
Example: ThreatNG identifies "Ransomware events" associated with the organization and provides intelligence about active data availability and integrity threats. This directly contributes to PCI Attack Surface Discovery, prompting immediate activation of incident response procedures (PCI DSS 12.10.5).
ThreatNG provides comprehensive reports, including an "Inventory" report, "Security Ratings" , and "External GRC Assessment Mappings (eg, PCI DSS)". These reports are invaluable for building and maintaining a clear picture of the PCI Attack Surface:
The Inventory report directly supports the ongoing cataloging of assets that are part of or linked to the CDE's external attack surface.
External GRC Assessment Mappings allow organizations to see how discovered external risks, like "Subdomains Missing Content Security Policy" , align with specific PCI DSS requirements. This helps prioritize remediation efforts for exposures that most directly impact PCI DSS compliance and security, informing the management of the PCI Attack Surface.
ThreatNG's core capability is "Continuous Monitoring of external attack surface, digital risk, and security ratings of all organizations". This is fundamental to PCI Attack Surface Discovery, as the external attack surface is dynamic. New assets can be deployed, configurations can change, or sensitive data can be inadvertently exposed. Continuous monitoring ensures that the PCI Attack Surface remains current, providing real-time awareness of new components that fall into CDE scope or pose a risk to it.
ThreatNG's investigation modules provide detailed insights that are critical for populating and enriching the understanding of the PCI Attack Surface:
Domain Intelligence: This module comprehensively overviews an organization's digital presence, including DNS Intelligence (Domain Record Analysis, Domain Name Permutations, Web3 Domains), Email Intelligence, WHOIS Intelligence, and Subdomain Intelligence.
Example: Through Subdomain Intelligence, ThreatNG can identify "APIs on Subdomains". If these APIs handle payment data, their discovery is vital for the PCI Attack Surface, ensuring they are included in the CDE's security scope and subjected to secure coding practices (PCI DSS 6.5.1).
Example: When ThreatNG performs a "Default Port Scan" as part of its Subdomain Intelligence, it identifies externally exposed ports. Suppose sensitive ports like those for databases (e.g., SQL Server, MySQL ) or remote access (e.g., RDP, SSH ) are open externally. This indicates potential unauthorized access points that must be documented as part of the PCI Attack Surface and secured with firewalls (PCI DSS 1.2.1).
Sensitive Code Exposure: This module discovers sensitive information within public code repositories.
Example: If ThreatNG finds "Code Secrets Found" such as API keys (e.g., Stripe API key ) or cloud credentials (e.g., AWS Access Key ID Value ) in a public repository, these represent potential backdoor access points to systems within or connected to the CDE. This provides critical data for the PCI Attack Surface, demanding immediate credential revocation and secure development practices (PCI DSS 6.6).
Cloud and SaaS Exposure: ThreatNG discovers "Sanctioned Cloud Services," "Unsanctioned Cloud Services," "Cloud Service Impersonations," and "Open Exposed Cloud Buckets" across major providers.
Example: Discovering an "Open Exposed Cloud Bucket" through Cloud and SaaS Exposure directly reveals an unintended storage location that might contain CHD. This immediately becomes a critical piece of the PCI Attack Surface, highlighting the need to restrict access based on need-to-know (PCI DSS 7.2.1) and ensure unreadable stored PAN (PCI DSS 3.4.1).
Intelligence Repositories (DarCache)
ThreatNG's continuously updated intelligence repositories provide vital context for enriching the understanding of the PCI Attack Surface by providing threat context and vulnerability details:
Dark Web (DarCache Dark Web): This includes "Compromised Credentials (DarCache Rupture)" and "Ransomware Groups and Activities (DarCache Ransomware)".
Example: "DarCache Rupture" (Compromised Credentials) identifies leaked usernames and passwords. If these credentials belong to personnel with CDE access, this intelligence is immediately critical for the PCI Attack Surface, as it indicates a direct pathway for unauthorized access (PCI DSS 8.3.1).
Vulnerabilities (DarCache Vulnerability): This includes NVD (DarCache NVD), EPSS (DarCache EPSS), KEV (DarCache KEV), and Verified Proof-of-Concept (PoC) Exploits (DarCache eXploit).
Example: "DarCache KEV" identifies "Vulnerabilities actively exploiting in the wild". Suppose ThreatNG detects an internet-facing asset (identified as part of the CDE's external footprint) with a KEV vulnerability. In that case, this intelligence immediately highlights a proven threat for the CDE, mandating rapid patching prioritization (PCI DSS 6.2.3). "DarCache eXploit" provides direct links to PoC exploits, enabling security teams to reproduce vulnerabilities and understand their real-world impact to develop effective mitigation strategies, enhancing the understanding of the PCI Attack Surface.
Working with Complementary Solutions
ThreatNG's capabilities create powerful synergies when combined with other cybersecurity solutions, significantly enhancing an organization's efforts to discover and manage its PCI Attack Surface.
Configuration Management Databases (CMDBs): ThreatNG's external discovery directly feeds newly identified assets and misconfigurations into a CMDB.
Example: When ThreatNG identifies "Applications Identified" or "Private IPs Found" previously unknown to the organization, this data can be automatically populated into the CMDB. This ensures the CMDB, which serves as the core for tracking the CDE's components, is complete and accurate, aligning with PCI DSS Requirement 1.4.2 for maintaining an inventory of system components.
Vulnerability Management (VM) Platforms: ThreatNG's external assessment capabilities, particularly its identification of "Critical Severity Vulnerabilities Found" and "High Severity Vulnerabilities Found" on external subdomains, provide a crucial external perspective that complements VM platforms.
Example: ThreatNG can flag an exposed web application with a critical vulnerability. This PCI Attack Surface insight can then be pushed to a VM platform to initiate deeper, authenticated scans of the application's internal components. This combined approach ensures that external and internal vulnerabilities that could expose the CDE are identified and prioritized for remediation, supporting PCI DSS 6.2.3 (addressing security vulnerabilities) and 11.3.1 (annual external penetration testing).
Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) Tools: ThreatNG's "Cloud and SaaS Exposure" capability identifies externally exposed cloud resources and misconfigurations.
Example: ThreatNG might discover an "Open Exposed Cloud Bucket" potentially containing CHD. This PCI Attack Surface insight can trigger a more granular internal scan by a CSPM tool to confirm data presence, assess misconfigurations, and ensure access controls are aligned with PCI DSS 7.2.1 (restrict access based on need-to-know) and 3.4.1 (render stored PAN unreadable). The CSPM tool can continuously monitor the cloud environment for new exposures, improving overall PCI Attack Surface Discovery.
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Systems: ThreatNG's findings from its various assessment modules can be integrated into a SIEM.
Example: Details about "Admin Page References" or "Custom Port Scan" results, revealing unexpected open ports on external interfaces, can be fed into the SIEM. The SIEM can then correlate these external insights with internal log data to detect suspicious access attempts or activities targeting these newly identified or unmanaged attack surface components, supporting PCI DSS 10.2.1 (logging access to system components) and 10.6.1 (monitoring and responding to security alerts).
