Cyber Defense Magazine Special Annual Edition for RSA Conference 2021

presence consists of, also known as your attack surface. How can you make your attack surface as small,
flexible and secure as possible?
The Sweepatic Platform helps you strengthen the cyber resilience of your organization by not giving
cybercriminals a real chance. People with malicious motivations will not be able to access your
information if your “cyber doors” are closed. How can you approach that in concrete terms?
1. Be aware of your attack surface
Only when you understand the breadth and depth of your online presence you can really evaluate the
risks your organization runs. An attack surface changes and grows continuously, which makes it hard
and complex to have an up-to-date overview in real time.
For example, the Sweepatic Platform automatically and exhaustively scans the attack surface for
vulnerabilities or CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures). Sweepatic verifies email security
settings which will prevent fraudulent or phishing emails sent in the name of an organization. Websites
are verified against a list of configuration and encryption best practices. New cloud-based applications
deployed with default and insecure settings are detected within days.
By keeping an eye on your attack surface, such risks can be avoided. The Sweepatic Platform discovers
the full extent of your attack surface 24x7 and assesses in which areas you can remove targets for
cyberattacks. You can slim down your attack surface in three concrete ways:
2. Websites and domain names
Keep an up-to-date view of which hosts your organization uses and manage them efficiently. You do this
by updating your configurations, keeping an eye on which web applications are running and carefully
handling where exactly you store and share confidential information. This provides you with an overview
of which internet-facing assets - that no longer serve a business justification - to take offline or of where
precisely you can improve your attack surface security.
After all, what is not there, cannot be hacked.
3. External providers
Nowadays, not all IT passes through or is managed by the IT department, let alone IT security. Are you
aware of what is put online? Do you know exactly which external providers your organization uses? Not
only is it safer to limit this group, it will likely save you monthly subscription fees as well.
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