What is threat exposure, and how can you mitigate it?

Threat exposure is a metric that every business owner should be aware of. Some might even say that it’s the most important part of maintaining business success. With that in mind, let’s explore threat exposure — specifically, what it is, what it shows, and how companies can reduce it.

Threat exposure: What is it?

Threat exposure is the combined total of cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities that threaten the company. It encompasses the weaknesses of every part of an organization's IT environment, starting with the system and finishing with the third-party providers.

The importance of understanding threat exposure

Understanding a company’s threat exposure can provide insight into its security posture. Large threat exposure makes organizations vulnerable to cyberattacks and can lead to significant legal troubles along with major reputational and financial damage. Identifying vulnerabilities and implementing external attack surface management can help businesses curb the biggest cybersecurity weaknesses and reduce the chances of a successful cyberattack.

“Data is the new gold” — once just a catchy Salesforce campaign slogan, now strikes true more than ever. Protecting personal, company, and client information should be a top online priority for any business. Researching and defining effective threat exposure management strategies are the first steps in doing just that.

The dangers of ignoring threat exposure

Ignoring threat exposure in the organization is the same as ignoring the first symptoms of a disease. Eventually, both will cause serious problems. While you may not lose your life, disregarding a company's threat exposure management can result in data breaches, brute-force attacks, and other cybersecurity incidents. Consequently, these can lead to lawsuits, fines, bad press, and operational disruptions.

How to mitigate threat exposure

Unfortunately, eradicating threat exposure is mission impossible. This leaves businesses with the second-best option — working tirelessly to mitigate it. Here are some tips on how companies can do this effectively.

Find all possible attack vectors

An attack vector is a specific path malicious actors can take to breach the company’s systems. The total of these attack vectors constitutes the organization's attack surface, which is part of the company's overall threat exposure. Employing security teams to find all possible attack vectors is crucial in defining and mitigating cyber risks. Regular system testing should be a norm for any business that aims to see a clear picture of its cybersecurity, review system vulnerabilities, and improve its threat exposure management.

Use cyber threat intelligence

Cyber threat intelligence is a cybersecurity field that aims to gather knowledge about all the existing and developing cyber risks, including their trends and advancements. Like the stock market, actively following updates and news in threat intelligence can provide new opportunities, enhance understanding (in this case, of potential attack paths), and reduce the risk of data breach (and, therefore, financial loss). Similar to how investors analyze trends to make informed decisions, businesses must stay ahead of emerging threats to defend against potential risks.

Implement security controls

Continuous threat exposure management requires setting up robust security controls. These include enabling two-factor authentication (2FA), network segmentation, and incident response plans. With numerous options at their disposal, businesses can and should upgrade their systems to withstand even the most ferocious brute-force cyberattacks.

Constantly monitor potential cyber threats

In cybersecurity, vigilance can be a lifesaver. Constantly monitoring the system will help security teams spot data breaches faster. Early detection provides additional time to safeguard sensitive data before hackers can exploit system vulnerabilities. Businesses can leverage NordStellar, a comprehensive threat exposure management platform, to enhance cyber threat monitoring. The platform helps security teams identify and respond to cyber threats before they escalate, reducing data leak detection times, improving compliance, and strengthening the online security of employees, clients, brands, and infrastructure.

Educate employees on workplace cybersecurity

Cyberattacks often result from human error. For example, some of the most notorious data breaches have occurred because of an employee clicking on a phishing link (Marriott data breach in 2018) or being tricked into providing login credentials through social engineering (Twitter Bitcoin scam in 2020).

Regularly training and educating employees on cyber vulnerabilities in their workplace can further reduce a company’s threat exposure. While it may initially seem challenging, this strategy could benefit not only the business but also employees’ personal online safety.

Minimize third-party access to sensitive data

Threat exposure also includes risks posed by third-party service providers, often referred to as supply chain cyberattacks. To protect themselves, businesses that rely on third-party services should avoid providing credentials to the inside platforms and, if possible, have separate systems for sharing important information. That way, if a third-party service provider suffers a data breach, the hackers won't have direct access to the company's data.

Keep the existing security controls up to date

Online security systems become obsolete quickly. Meanwhile, threat actors continue to improve, finding new ways to breach targets’ systems. Keeping an organization’s cybersecurity measures up to date is critical to safeguarding business or client data. Therefore, security patches and updates should be installed as soon as they are released.

FAQ

What is threat exposure management?

Threat exposure management is the set of cybersecurity practices companies use to identify, prioritize, and reduce the number of cyber vulnerabilities. Implementing 2FA, creating incident response plans, and even improving the firewall are all part of the threat exposure management strategy.

What are the key components of threat exposure management?

The key components of threat exposure management are digital assets (servers, networks, systems), vulnerability management (penetration testing or regular system reviews), threat intelligence, incident response planning, continuous monitoring, and education. Constantly improving digital assets is also crucial to threat exposure management.

What are the most common cyber threats for businesses?

The most common cyber threats for businesses include phishing attacks, malware, ransomware, insider threats, and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. Almost all these attacks target (or emerge from) employees, stressing the need to invest in workplace cybersecurity education. Additionally, using threat exposure management platforms such as NordStellar can help businesses gain the upper hand in vulnerability monitoring, aiding in phishing, malware, or session hijacking prevention.