Attack surface management (ASM)

Attack surface management (ASM) is a cybersecurity process focused on the continuous discovery, inventory, classification, and monitoring of all an organization's digital assets that could be targeted by threat actors. This includes external-facing assets such as web applications, APIs, cloud services, open ports, IP addresses, domains, and even shadow IT — systems and services deployed without formal IT oversight. The goal is to maintain a real-time, comprehensive view of every potential entry point an attacker could exploit.

ASM goes beyond simple asset discovery by integrating risk assessment and prioritization. Once assets are identified, they are analyzed for vulnerabilities such as misconfigurations, unpatched software, exposed credentials, and weak access controls. Security teams then prioritize remediation efforts based on the severity and exploitability of each weakness. By continuously reducing the attack surface, organizations strengthen their overall security posture, improve threat detection capabilities, and proactively mitigate risk before adversaries can take advantage of exposed assets.