What is attack surface management?

Attack surface management is the process of continuously discovering, assessing, and securing all potential entry points attackers might exploit.  

An organization's digital infrastructure consists of multiple assets, including cloud services, on-premises physical or virtual technology, endpoints, human vulnerabilities, and third-party integrations—all possible entry points for cyber threats. Collectively, these form the attack surface, which must be monitored and secured. 

For managed service providers (MSPs), this means proactively mapping out and addressing vulnerabilities to prevent or mitigate breaches. A successful attack surface management strategy requires increasing visibility into all indicators of compromise, stress-testing potential entry points, and establishing automated responses to perceived threats.  

Key takeaways 

• Efficient attack surface management positions organizations not just to react to breaches but to proactively prevent them by maintaining full visibility into their assets at all times. 

• Threat actors are leveraging automation and AI to scale attacks. Organizations must employ AI-driven solutions to keep pace and mitigate risks in real time. 

• MSPs face unique challenges that require advanced tools combining real-time asset discovery, automated vulnerability management, and unified endpoint security to provide continuous monitoring and rapid threat response. 

The role of attack surface management 

Malicious actors are quick to exploit technological advancement and are constantly looking for innovative tactics to use to their advantage. 

As predicted, artificial intelligence (AI) has been both a blessing and a curse. When leveraged by adversaries, it enables them to scale their efforts exponentially. Amazon, for example, experienced nearly 1 billion cyber threats per day in 2024. 

In our recent 2025 MSP Threat Report, we noticed that edge devices, specifically, have seen a heavy increase in targeted attacks, with over 84,000 recorded alerts targeting specific vulnerabilities. These threat landscape changes mean that MSPs need to take a more proactive approach when it comes to threat management, rather than relying on traditional intermittent asset discovery and vulnerability management methods. 

Attack surface management addresses this need by continuously monitoring external and internal attack surfaces, along with incorporating real-time risk assessment and automated responses. The end goal is to provide complete visibility across the security stack at all times, not just when a threat breaches the perimeter. Many attack surface management frameworks also use methods similar to hackers and threat actors, to make sure that target and risk assessment are based on opportunities to a cyber attacker. 

Attack surface types 

Each surface type can be exploited in different ways, making it critical for MSPs to have a consolidated view across multiple attack surfaces. 

​​​There are three key types of attack surfaces: 

• Digital: Includes all assets connected to the internet, such as websites, cloud services, applications, and the entire internet-facing on-premises infrastructure. External attack surface management focuses on securing exposed entry points to prevent exploitation. 

• Physical: Covers hardware-based vulnerabilities, such as USB ports, external storage drives, and other physical access points that could be compromised. Internal assets, including BYOD devices and exposed IoT systems, also fall into this category. 

• Social engineering: Encompasses all human elements that malicious actors might target to gain unauthorized access to the systems. This includes employees, contractors, and partners who may fall victim to social engineering or phishing attacks. Teams typically mitigate risks in this category through regular security training and strict access policies. 

Core functions of attack surface management 

Unlike traditional vulnerability-based cybersecurity models that rely on a reactive approach to specific threats, attack surface management simultaneously addresses all aspects of an organization’s digital ecosystem. Each component works together to proactively prevent risks rather than merely applying a patch after a breach. 

Effective attack surface management involves several core functions working together to establish a 360-degree cybersecurity posture: 

Asset discovery and identification: The first step in protecting an organization’s digital assets is mapping them all. Without a complete inventory that includes cloud services, on-premises infrastructure, and third-party integrations, it’s impossible to identify all security gaps that attackers can exploit.  

Any software or hardware deployed without the IT team’s knowledge needs to be identified. These assets are known as shadow IT and include unauthorized internal communication tools, personal cloud storage accounts, or orphaned devices with access to the organization’s network. Asset discovery and identification are particularly important for uncovering and mapping shadow IT. Once mapped, teams can take appropriate action to remediate vulnerabilities.  

Vulnerability management, analysis, and prioritization: Once assets are identified, security teams must assess their vulnerabilities. Each asset is analyzed to determine its potential exposure (e.g., outdated software, weak authentication mechanisms, misconfigurations) and how a hypothetical attacker might exploit it. 

Next, a risk assessment evaluates the potential consequences of such an attack, such as malware distribution, sensitive data theft, or the introduction of backdoors. Lastly, prioritization helps organizations categorize each asset in terms of its criticality, exploit potential, and business impact. 

Remediation and continuous monitoring: Once they are identified and prioritized, vulnerabilities must be remediated by taking appropriate action. This includes patching systems, fixing misconfigurations, updating security policies, decommissioning orphaned IT assets, and implementing additional security controls.  

Note that attack surface management is not a one-time process. It requires continuous monitoring to maintain a strong security posture as the digital infrastructure evolves.  

Attack surface management implementation best practices 

An effective attack surface management strategy works only when teams properly implement all its components. Adopting proven best practices maximizes an organization’s security posture: 

Risk prioritization frameworks: Not all vulnerabilities pose the same level of risk. Cybersecurity frameworks like CIS Controls and NIST CFS help organizations categorize threats based on objective, data-driven observations. Prioritization ensures that resources are allocated to the most critical issues, maximizing security while maintaining cost efficiency. 

Threat modeling: Identifying potential threats before they materialize is key to proactive cybersecurity. Threat modeling involves analyzing past and current attack trends to map out possible attack scenarios and assess their potential impacts. 

Penetration testing: Once a theoretical attack vector is identified, penetration testing evaluates how well an organization’s defenses hold up against real-world attack attempts. This hands-on approach helps uncover security gaps that automation might miss, allowing teams to remediate vulnerabilities before bad actors exploit them. 

Misconfigurations: 80% of exposures occur due to misconfigurations. Implementing robust configuration checks that adhere to recognized security benchmarks (such as CIS Controls and NIST CFS guidelines) significantly reduces the attack surface. Automation further improves an organization’s security posture by ensuring systems remain properly configured over time. 

Shadow IT control: As we mentioned earlier, unauthorized applications and devices pose a serious security risk. First, implement appropriate processes to discover and manage shadow IT. Then, enforce long-term policies requiring IT approval for any new software or hardware to minimize the risk of unmanaged assets expanding the attack surface. 

Attack surface management challenges 

Implementing attack surface management comes with challenges, especially for MSPs managing multiple client environments. Here are some of the most common obstacles and how to address them: 

Managing complex client networks: Modern IT environments are highly dynamic, with hybrid technology stacks that combine cloud and on-premises systems. MSPs must navigate multiple cloud providers and sprawling, interconnected infrastructures that constantly change, expanding the attack surface. Success requires continuous asset discovery that automatically tracks all changes in real time. 

Coordination across client teams: Efficient attack surface management requires collaboration across security, IT, and compliance teams. MSPs often work with partners who enforce different security procedures or use disconnected security tools. This leads to siloed and fragmented data, increasing the risk of blind spots and security gaps. The solution lies in a unified, vendor-agnostic tool that consolidates security data and streamlines monitoring and management. 

Limited resources and expertise: Many MSPs grapple with resource constraints, lacking the staff or expertise to keep up with evolving threats, security environments, and compliance needs. Consolidating tools into a centralized platform can provide smaller teams a clearer view of their security posture and help maximize the efficiency of their workforce. 

Balancing proactive and reactive efforts: It’s easy to get stuck in a reactive mode given the volume of alerts and incidents MSPs deal with daily. However, this can become a hindrance to more proactive risk management techniques like identifying vulnerabilities, threat prevention, and implementing long-term security strategies.  

Tech solutions for attack surface management 

An effective attack surface management solution should integrate your security tools into a single unified experience, simplifying operations while minimizing your clients’ security risk Integration capabilities often include RMM, EDR, SIEM, SaaS Security, patch management, and email security, just to name a few. 

In addition, look for AI-driven tools that can automate workflows to help MSPs reduce alert fatigue, increase efficiency, and enable more proactive threat detection and risk management. Smart automation and data-driven insights can lead to faster response times, reduced costs, and happier clients. 

​​​ConnectWise Security360™ consolidates these essential capabilities into one unified attack surface management solution, making it easier for MSPs to manage complex security environments amidst an evolving threat and regulatory landscape. ConnectWise Security360 is designed to seamlessly integrate with your existing security stack, backed by our powerful Asio platform to support endless scalability as your security practice grows. 

Ready to set a new bar for MSP cybersecurity? Watch an on-demand demo today to see how ConnectWise Security360 can help your business evolve.