Exposure management platforms contain software solutions that allow organizations to understand their attack surface and then enable them to address it. These platforms help continuously prevent and mitigate security risks. This suite of software solutions aims not only to prevent likely attacks but also to accurately report cyber risks to ensure there is no business interruption.
Oftentimes, exposure management products are composed of two distinct parts: attack surface management software and vulnerability scanner software. This combination of features makes exposure management platforms capable of continuously monitoring an organization’s network, assets, and cloud services while simultaneously monitoring applications and networks to identify security vulnerabilities. More often than not, exposure management platforms are packaged as a single product with these two types of software capabilities as features within it. These core software solutions for exposure management help organizations understand what cyber threats are attacking their business and what parts of the business are most vulnerable. These solutions also help companies to continuously identify, prevent, and understand attack surface threats and vulnerabilities.
Exposure management platforms sometimes offer risk-based vulnerability management functionality, which identifies and prioritizes vulnerabilities based on customizable risk factors. These tools are more advanced than traditional vulnerability management solutions, as they assist in the prioritization of issues and execution of remedies based on the results of machine learning (ML) algorithms. Additionally, in some cloud environments, exposure management platforms may also include container-security features, which are used to secure multiple components of containerized applications or files, along with their infrastructure and connected networks.
To qualify for inclusion in the Exposure Management category, a product must:
Manage an organization’s exposure to potential cyber threats
Proactively identify security vulnerabilities
Monitor and identify potential security breaches continuously
Proactively block and remediate ongoing attacks
Report the above activity so the organization knows how to address potential cyber risks
