Attack Surface Analysis: Process and Identification Techniques

Attack surface analysis is the process of mapping out an organization’s attack surfaces. These consist of the set of attack vectors that an attacker could use to target an organization.

Organizations have both external and internal attack surfaces. An external attack surface includes all potential attack vectors that could be used to gain initial access to an organization’s environment from the public Internet. The internal attack surface incorporates those attack vectors that an attacker with this initial access could use to expand their access and work toward their goals.

Why is it important?

Attack surface analysis enables the organization to identify and close security gaps. If a company has a complete map of its attack surface, it knows all of the potential ways that an attacker could use to gain access to its systems or move laterally through its environment.

Based on this knowledge of attack vectors and their relative priorities, a security team can take steps to manage the organization’s risk exposure by eliminating, mitigating, or monitoring various attack vectors. By doing so, they can reduce the company’s vulnerability to attack. However, this is only possible if the organization has performed the initial attack surface analysis to map out its potential attack vectors.

Steps in attack surface analysis

Attack surface analysis is a multi-stage process that incorporates the following steps:

#1. Defining the attack surface

The first step in attack surface analysis is defining the attack surface being analyzed. Generally, attack surface analysis focuses on the digital attack surface, but the company also has physical and social attack surfaces.

The organization also needs to decide whether to focus on the external or internal attack surface. An external attack surface includes the vectors that an attacker can use to gain initial access, while the internal attack surface enables lateral movement through the organization’s network.

#2. Identifying and mapping

After defining the attack surface, the team can start identifying and mapping potential attack vectors. This involves using various tools and techniques to determine the different ways that an attacker could breach the identified attack surface.

When identifying and mapping potential attack vectors, it’s important to consider all of the potential threats to the business. For example, the team may look for software vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, open ports and protocols, insecure network protocols, remote access solutions (VPNs, etc.), and other potential risks to the business.

#3. Measuring and assessing

A list of all of the potential attack vectors in an organization’s environment provides limited benefit to the security team. With limited resources to spend on remediation, an unprioritized list could result in focusing on less important and lower-risk threats.

The final stage of attack surface analysis is measuring and assessing the identified attack vectors based on their potential impact on the business. By mapping out the potential effects of an attacker exploiting a particular vector, the organization can determine which IT assets and business flows could be impacted. By ranking vulnerabilities with high likelihoods of exploitation and potential impacts more highly, a security team can better prioritize its remediation efforts and maximize ROI.

The building blocks of attack surface analysis

Attack surface analysis is designed to identify all of the potential attack vectors that could be used to target the business. To do so, an organization needs to use a variety of different techniques, including:

• Network Scanning: Network scanning is used to identify the different systems connected to the network and the ports and services accessible to an attacker. This step helps detect unknown assets and can also provide insight into potential threats to the business. For example, SQL injection and similar flaws are only applicable to computers hosting a web server.
• Application Profiling: Application profiling attempts to fingerprint the various applications identified during the network scanning phase. Information about the application’s version, configuration, and other details can help identify potential security gaps.
• Vulnerability Scanning: Vulnerability scanners are automated tools that look for known vulnerabilities in identified applications. For example, a vulnerability scanner might test for SQL injection vulnerabilities or the presence of applications with known Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) entries.
• Third-Party Risk Assessment: An organization’s relationships with third parties are also part of its attack surface since an attack against one of these providers can also impact the business. Attack surface analysis should incorporate mapping and risk assessment of these external dependencies.

An example of attack surface analysis

An organization may perform an attack surface analysis that involves a public-facing web application. For this application, the analysis process might include:

• Identify Entry Points: The analysis starts by mapping out the various public-facing elements of the web application. This could include webpages, APIs, etc.
• Map Business Flows: Mapping out how the application works and interacts with other corporate systems can help identify other potential attack vectors and quantify the potential impacts of an intrusion on the business.
• Detect Vulnerabilities: At this step, the team looks for potential attack vectors for the application. This could include scanning for vulnerabilities, looking for misconfigurations, checking for missed updates, mapping third-party dependencies, and identifying security gaps, such as weak authentication.
• Assess Risks: The previous step should produce a list of identified attack vectors. By combining this with the map of business flows, the team can determine the potential impacts of each vulnerability on the business.

The end result of attack surface analysis should be a prioritized list of vulnerabilities and potential attack vectors. The security team can then take this list and work to address the identified issues in order of importance.

Attack Surface Analysis with IONIX

Attack surface discovery can be a complex process involving a wide range of potential vulnerabilities. Ideally, it should also be performed continuously to ensure that security teams are aware of the latest and most significant threats to the business.

IONIX offers continuous attack surface analysis, providing organizations with up-to-date visibility into the ways that cyber threat actors could target their business. To learn more about how your organization can minimize its risk exposure through enhanced visibility, sign up for an IONIX demo.

FAQ

• What is attack surface analysis?

  Attack surface analysis is the process of mapping the various attack vectors that could be used to target an organization. It’s an important first step to achieving risk visibility and reducing the organization’s vulnerability to attack.

• What is the first step in analyzing the attack surface?

  The first step in attack surface analysis is generating a comprehensive asset inventory. By identifying the assets that make up the organization’s attack surface, the security team can ensure that it’s not missing anything when looking for vulnerabilities.

• What are the three types of attack surfaces?

  The three types of attack surfaces are digital, physical, and social. Digital attack surfaces include threats to software, physical attack vectors include theft or unauthorized physical access, and social attack vectors include social engineering attacks.