The following is a list of the best attack surface management tools to help discover assets, monitor, and increase your security posture.

1. FireMon

FireMon’s asset discovery tool, Asset Manager, automatically discovers and maps all assets across the network in real time, creating a detailed inventory. This helps in identifying potential attack vectors and unmanaged assets that could be exploited.

FireMon’s network security policy management (NSPM) solution optimizes firewall rules and configurations to minimize unnecessary exposure and reduce the attack surface. It helps in removing redundant or overly permissive rules that could be exploited by attackers.

2. Qualys

Initially known as Qualys Cloud Platform or Qualysguard, the Qualys TruRisk Platform is a network security and vulnerability management tool. This platform offers security checks, application scanning, attack surface mapping, detection of network devices, and tools to prioritize and fix vulnerabilities. These features work together to help reduce and manage risk.

Qualys offers a comprehensive suite of features that prioritize real-time vulnerability management. It can continuously scan and identify security weaknesses across your network. The software solution also provides detailed asset discovery to catalog all hardware and software.

3. Tenable

Tenable’s Nessus vulnerability scanner offers extensive coverage of vulnerabilities with continuous real-time system assessments. It comprises built-in features for threat intelligence, prioritization, and real-time insights. Enterprises use it to identify and understand risks, allowing operators to prioritize and address them proactively.

Nessus enables businesses to detect potential vulnerabilities and focus on critical issues to streamline the threat remediation process. It also allows professionals to keep an audit trail and access detailed scan information. These include severity, status, and start and end times.

4. Rapid7

With a robust platform that helps protect your systems from attackers and grow with your needs, Rapid7 also ranks among the top attack surface management tools. The platform offers application security, vulnerability management, external threat intelligence, threat detection, and automation tools. It makes it a great choice for IT and DevOps teams who use them to quickly identify and respond to threats.

Rapid7 aims to make the digital world safer by simplifying cybersecurity and making it more accessible. The company provides security professionals with the research, tools, and expertise needed to manage today’s complex attack surfaces.

5. Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management

Microsoft’s Defender focuses on external attack surface management and is offered on Microsoft’s Azure platform. It can identify vulnerabilities and exposures in web-based resources and map out an organization’s unique online attack surface.

Microsoft Defender’s real-time inventory monitoring lets you point out, analyze, and categorize external-facing resources as they emerge. Organizations can use it to enhance their attack surface visibility and discover assets across various cloud environments, including hidden resources like shadow IT.

6. CrowdStrike Falcon Surface

CrowdStrike addresses security challenges by offering a solution that combines endpoint detection and response, next-generation antivirus, cyber threat intelligence, and security best practices.

Falcon Surface also provides full visibility into internet risks affecting businesses and prioritizes threats based on expert insights and business needs.

7. Mandiant

Mandiant provides users with over 250 pre-built integrations to discover assets and cloud resources and identify relationships with partners and third parties. Like many of the other ASM tools, Mandiant monitors network infrastructure continuously to detect exposures and ensure a smooth transition during cloud adoption and digital transformation.

Mandiant helps security teams with the ability to tackle real-world threats by identifying misconfigurations, vulnerabilities, and exposed areas that need attention.

8. Brinqa

Brinqa’s ASM platform includes features like a risk operations center, vulnerability risk management, and cloud risk management. Users can handle risks across their entire attack surface.

Brinqa creates a unified inventory of your attack surface by connecting all asset types, business context, threat intelligence, and security controls into a dynamic Cyber Risk Graph.

9. Cortex by Palo Alto Networks

This global platform by Palo Alto Networks reduces risks by assessing supply chain security, managing cloud security, and addressing various vulnerabilities. Cortex protects against remote access security issues, unpatched systems, insecure file sharing, sensitive business apps, IT portals, weak encryption, and exposed IoT devices.

Cortex Xpanse collects data from domain registrars, DNS records, and business databases to find and identify all of your internet assets. The solution can create a detailed and unique inventory of your online assets, uncovering unknown assets without needing to install or set up anything.

10. CyCognito

Cycognito’s cloud-based platform focuses on managing external attack surfaces. It uses bots and other tools to continuously scan, categorize, and map digital assets. The tool automatically identifies and ranks security risks as if they were real attackers

CyCognito mimics how attackers perform reconnaissance to proactively identify gaps in a company’s defenses.