Understanding Exposure Management (In Under 5 Minutes)

Exposure management is the process of removing security risks, or exposures, in an organization’s digital environment before an attacker can exploit them. It’s a continuous process of identifying, contextualizing, prioritizing, and addressing exposures based on the likelihood and impact of a breach. Exposure management differs from traditional vulnerability management in two key areas.

1. It identifies risks that vulnerability scanners can’t uncover, but attackers commonly exploit, such as misconfigurations in directory services and missing multi-factor authentication (MFA).
2. It provides business-specific context to each exposure in relation to its corresponding organization’s network infrastructure and business objectives.

Your Cybersecurity MRI for Uncovering Hidden Threats

Think of an MRI. Doctors use this technology to get an in-depth, comprehensive view of the human body. It enables them to detect even the most obscure issues, sometimes even before they really become a problem, and are not always visible from other types of body scans. Through the lens of cybersecurity, think of exposure management as an ongoing MRI for a business’ security posture—a powerful, preventative tool that provides a holistic view into an organization's digital environment.

The Difference Between Exposure Management and Vulnerability Management

If exposure management is your MRI, where does vulnerability management fall within the scope of medical exams? Think of it more like an X-ray, revealing surface-level weaknesses; one-sided results that don’t give you the full picture of what could be wrong or at risk. Vulnerability management is about identifying those known weak spots in your systems and software that bad actors could potentially exploit, evaluating how serious those vulnerabilities are, prioritizing which ones need to be addressed first, and then patching them up tight.

Exposure management, however, takes more of a bird's eye view of your overall security posture, and equips you with the information to pinpoint problem areas. This information reveals all the different ways your organization could potentially be exposed to cyber threats - not just the obvious vulnerable software, but misconfigurations, risky practices, you name it. It's like stepping back and taking a good look around your entire home and surrounding area to pinpoint any security blind spots. Sure, you may have locked up the front door (patched that known vulnerability), but did you also remember to lock the window? Hide the key to the safe? Or accidentally leave those financial documents out on the patio table for anyone to see? Exposure management helps identify those often overlooked or unintentional gaps that leave you open to attack.

While vulnerability management remains crucial to a solid security posture, exposure management is the wider lens that reveals all the areas you may be unknowingly exposed before incidents can occur. In today's cybersecurity landscape, where threats are becoming increasingly sophisticated and difficult to detect, exposure management plays a vital role in maintaining a robust security posture. This proactive practice focuses on identifying, assessing, and mitigating vulnerabilities within an organization's digital infrastructure, minimizing the potential attack surface and reducing the risk of data breaches, unauthorized access, and other cyber incidents.

The good news? Vulnerability management is a primary component of exposure management. So, the right exposure management platform allows you to consolidate, rather than expand your current cybersecurity tech stack.

The Continuous Cycle of Exposure Management

We all know regular health check-ups are recommended for maintaining physical well-being. Exposure management is similar in that it’s an ongoing process that requires ‘round the clock monitoring and adaptation. As new threats emerge and environments evolve, organizations must remain vigilant, regularly conducting digital scans and assessments to identify and address emerging vulnerabilities.

Shield Cyber: Turning Valuable Data into Actionable Insights

Exposure Management and the data available from it are no good without being able to understand and turn that data into information and that information into action. If you don’t have clearly defined actionable insights from your tools, it’d be like building an Ikea dresser without the directions. Tools like Shield are able to take all the vectors an attacker uses to compromise a network and making them available in one easy dashboard.‍

The Steps of Continuous Exposure ManagementBest Practices

To maximize the effectiveness of exposure management efforts, organizations should adopt best practices such as maintaining an up-to-date asset inventory, implementing continuous vulnerability scanning, harden devices, prioritizing patching and updates, fostering a culture of security awareness, and collaborating with vendors and partners.

Just as an MRI enables early detection and targeted treatment of medical conditions, exposure management empowers organizations to proactively identify and address vulnerabilities, minimizing the risk of cyber attacks and ensuring the continued security and resilience of their digital operations.