Nithin Thomas
How EASM discovers your attack surface vulnerabilities
Security teams are in a constant race against time. Not only are cyber threats getting more sophisticated by the day, but the attack surface is also expanding at an alarming rate.
And to keep pace, security teams need to automate as much as possible. But not all automation delivers the same outcome. Without consolidating the tooling stack, automated security testing can feel unproductive—like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
EASM helps organizations discover and manage their internet-facing assets, providing the crucial visibility needed to make automated security testing more effective.
A Recap: What is External Attack Surface Management?
EASM is a critical cybersecurity capability that helps organizations discover and manage their internet-facing assets. It provides a continuous, real-time view of the attack surface, allowing security teams to identify and address vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.
Because of the sprawling digital ecosystem, organizations often struggle to establish granular visibility over their external footprint. With the rapid adoption of cloud services, the proliferation of web applications, and the increasing complexity of modern IT infrastructure, blind spots in security are inevitable.
EASM directly addresses this challenge by acting as an always-on discovery engine, proactively identifying all assets exposed to the public internet—even those outside traditional IT oversight. This comprehensive visibility forms the foundation of a proactive, risk-focused security strategy, moving organizations beyond a reactive, vulnerability-driven approach.
EASM and Automated Security Testing: A Powerful Combination
The synergy between External Attack Surface Management (EASM) and automated security testing is where proactive cybersecurity truly takes shape. While automated security testing tools are invaluable for identifying vulnerabilities within known assets, they often operate in silos, lacking visibility into the external attack surface.
EASM bridges this gap, establishing a powerful combination that significantly enhances the effectiveness and efficiency of automated security testing.
Comprehensive Asset Discovery
One of the most critical ways EASM empowers automated security testing is through its comprehensive asset discovery capabilities.
Automated security tools, whether Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST), Static Application Security Testing (SAST), or Infrastructure as Code (IaC) scanning, need to know what to test.
Traditional methods often rely on manually compiled lists of assets, which are prone to errors and omissions—especially in dynamic cloud environments.
EASM automates this initial, yet crucial, phase. By continuously scanning the internet and leveraging advanced discovery techniques, EASM uncovers all internet-facing assets—not just the ones security teams are aware of.
This includes the often-overlooked:
- Shadow IT assets that exist outside formal security program
- Rogue applications that were deployed without proper oversight
- Forgotten subdomains that remain exposed and unmonitored
- Exposed cloud services that security teams may not have accounted for
By feeding automated security testing tools with a complete, up-to-date asset inventory, EASM ensures that no part of the attack surface is left unexamined, significantly reducing the risk of blind spots.
Prioritized Testing
Automation’s strength lies in its speed and scalability, but without proper direction, it can become overwhelming—generating a flood of findings that security teams struggle to triage.
EASM adds a layer of intelligence by helping to prioritize automated security tests. By analyzing discovered assets, EASM can identify which are most critical or potentially vulnerable, based on factors such as:
- Exposure level (e.g., internet-facing assets vs. internal resources)
- Technology stack (e.g., outdated software, misconfigured services)
- Historical vulnerability data (e.g., past exploits, known risks)
And this prioritization is invaluable for automated security testing because it allows teams to focus their scans and resources on the highest-risk areas first.
For example, if EASM identifies a newly exposed application that handles sensitive data, it can trigger immediate, prioritized automated security testing on that asset.
This ensures that automated efforts are strategically directed, reducing the noise from less critical findings and maximizing the impact of security testing.
Continuous Monitoring and Triggering
The digital landscape is in constant flux, with new assets being deployed, configurations changing, and attack vectors evolving. Static, periodic security testing is no longer enough.
EASM provides continuous monitoring of the attack surface, acting as a real-time sentinel for security teams.
When EASM detects changes—such as a new subdomain going live, an exposed API endpoint, or a misconfigured cloud resource—it can automatically trigger relevant automated security tests.
This creates a dynamic security posture, where automated security testing is not just a scheduled event, but an ongoing process driven by real-world changes.
This near real-time triggering capability ensures that automated security testing remains agile and responsive to the evolving nature of modern IT environments.
Reduced Manual Effort
EASM reduces the manual effort associated with security testing.
Traditionally, security teams spend considerable time manually identifying assets, preparing them for testing, and triaging results.
EASM automates these steps by:
- Discovering assets dynamically, removing the need for manual tracking
- Prioritizing vulnerabilities, so teams aren’t overloaded with low-risk alerts
- Feeding data into security workflows, making security operations more efficient
By reducing manual overhead and enhancing the precision of automated security testing, EASM enables security teams to be more proactive, efficient, and ultimately, more effective in securing their organization’s external attack surface.
How Siemba’s EASM Discovers Your Attack Surface Vulnerabilities
Siemba’s EASM capabilities are natively integrated into its CTEM platform, enabling organizations to proactively identify and address vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.
Key features include:
- Comprehensive Asset Discovery: Siemba's EASM automatically discovers all internet-facing assets, including those that might be unknown to the security team.
- AI-Powered Vulnerability Prioritization: Siemba's AI-powered engine prioritizes vulnerabilities based on their severity and potential impact, ensuring that testing efforts are focused where they matter most.
- Near Real-Time Monitoring and Alerting: Siemba's EASM continuously monitors the attack surface for changes and new assets, and alerts security teams to potential threats in near real-time.
With Siemba, organizations can proactively manage their attack surface, reduce their risk of a cyberattack, and free up their security teams to focus on what matters most—their business.