Mastering Security Standards: A Guide to Managing Vulnerabilities and Exposures
Setting A Security Standard: From Vulnerability To Exposure Management
For years, cybersecurity frameworks operated under the premise of vulnerability management: identifying, evaluating, treating, and reporting on security vulnerabilities.
Although vital, this approach has proven inefficient in dealing with the exponential growth of sophisticated cybersecurity threats.
Focusing predominately on widely recognized vulnerabilities only scratches the surface of potential security issues, often resolving as little as 1% to 20% on average.
Vulnerability Management: A Reactive Approach
Vulnerability management represents a reactive stance against cyber threats.
While this methodology was formerly sufficient, the rapidly evolving landscape of cybersecurity threats demands a more proactive approach.
As per a IBM Security report, the average cost of a data breach in 2024 rose to a staggering $4.88 million.
The damages extend beyond financial loss, as breached entities also suffer substantial reputation damage, loss of customer trust, and potential legal consequences.
Exposure Management: A Proactive Approach
Enter exposure management: an evolved approach to cyber risk that suggests continuous and thorough analysis of exposed business assets.
Exposure management focuses on managing cyber risk as a whole.
By considering the entire attack surface — including shadow IT, third-party code, and the supply chain — it enables organizations to identify and remediate weak points more efficiently.
Rob Gurzeev, CEO of CyCognito, a leading exposure management platform, explains in a Help Net Security video, “With exposure management, organizations essentially prioritize resources based on risk, not vulnerabilities, which allows for a more tailored, impactful, and successful cybersecurity strategy.”
The Real-World Transition: A Closer Look at Marriott International and Capital One
Leaders in the industry are inching towards exposure management practices.
Following the 2018 data breach that affected around 500 million of its customers, Marriott International has transitioned into an exposure management model.
The transition has enabled the company to not only identify vulnerabilities but also evaluate and manage risk effectively.
Similarly, Capital One Bank, after a high-profile data breach incident involving 106 million customer records, has adopted an exposure management strategy.
The approach has allowed Capital One to better anticipate attacks and allocate resources towards high-risk vulnerabilities.
Moving Forward
The shift from vulnerability management to exposure management indicates a mature understanding of the evolving cybersecurity landscape.
For organizations looking to bolster their security posture, the focus should be on addressing the entire attack surface, identifying high-risk exposures, and taking action based on the risk associated with exposures, not just their existence.
