What’s the Purpose of Attack Surface Management?

Unspoken Security

In this episode of Unspoken Security, host AJ Nash welcomes Jeff Foley, founder and leader of the OWASP AMASS flagship project and Vice President and Distinguished Fellow of Research at ZeroFox. They dive into the critical importance of attack surface management (ASM) in cybersecurity, emphasizing the need for visibility from an adversarial perspective. Jeff explains how attackers spend most of their time on surveillance to deeply understand their targets; a vital component to improving the likelihood of being successful during any attack.

AJ and Jeff discuss the transition from government to commercial cybersecurity - including the challenges and opportunities - and Jeff shares his insights on how the commercial sector can benefit from the disciplined and thorough approaches used in government cybersecurity. He stresses the importance of ASM as a form of intelligence, advocating for organizations to identify and manage their attack surfaces as attackers do proactively.

The episode also covers the terminology and misconceptions surrounding ASM, with both AJ and Jeff agreeing that "attack surface management" may not fully capture the essence of the practice, suggesting "attack surface intelligence" as a more accurate term. They underscore the necessity for continuous monitoring and adaptation in a constantly evolving cyber threat landscape.
Finally, as with all episodes of Unspoken Security, our guest (Jeff, in this case), reveals a secret...something that - to this point - has remained unspoken. Like every episode, Jeff doesn't disappoint!

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