As digital landscapes continue to evolve daily, organizations are increasingly aware and focused on their attack surfaces to identify and mitigate potential risks. However, a troubling trend has emerged: companies are often compelled to pay bug hunters for exploiting vulnerabilities based on surface-level discoveries.
At Praetorian, we challenge this norm by offering a free version of our Chariot platform, including its powerful Attack Surface Management (ASM) scanning capabilities. Our goal is to provide organizations with the essential tools needed to stay ahead of potential attacks, emphasizing that the real value lies in identifying and mitigating material risks as part of a comprehensive Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) program.
The Problem with Current Practices
Many companies rely on bug bounty programs and external vulnerability researchers to identify security weaknesses. While these initiatives can uncover critical vulnerabilities, they often lead to significant costs and reactive security postures. Paying for each vulnerability discovered encourages a piecemeal approach to cybersecurity, where organizations are continually responding to immediate threats rather than proactively managing their overall risk landscape.
Moreover, this approach can inadvertently empower attackers. By paying for vulnerabilities, organizations may be fostering an environment where attackers are incentivized to find and exploit weaknesses rather than focusing on systemic improvements in security posture.
Praetorian’s Vision: Free Attack Surface Management
At Praetorian, we believe that attack surface management should be a foundational capability available to all organizations without cost. ASM is a crucial enablement technology that provides visibility into potential attack vectors, allowing organizations to understand their exposure and take proactive measures. By offering our ASM module for free within the Chariot platform, we aim to shift the focus from reactive vulnerability discovery to proactive risk management.
Chariot’s Attack Surface Module Key Features Spotlight
Our Chariot platform includes a comprehensive attack surface module designed to provide deep insights into an organization’s security posture. One key feature within Chariots ASM module is GitHub monitoring which includes:
- Exposed Secrets in Code: Automatically identifying secrets that have been inadvertently exposed in public or private repositories.
- Repository Status Changes: Monitoring changes from private to public repository status to ensure sensitive information is not unintentionally exposed.
- New Public Repositories: Detecting the addition of new public repositories to manage and mitigate potential risks.
- Vulnerabilities in GitHub Self-Hosted Runners: Identifying and addressing vulnerabilities in self-hosted runners used for CI/CD pipelines.
These features, along with many others, are available at no cost, empowering organizations to maintain robust security postures without the financial burden typically associated with vulnerability discovery.
Shifting the Focus to Material Risks
While attack surface management provides essential visibility, the true value lies in the actionable insights derived from this information. In the context of a CTEM program, the goal is not merely to identify potential vulnerabilities but to prioritize and address the most significant risks. This involves:
- Vulnerability Prioritization: Using ASM data to prioritize vulnerabilities based on their potential impact on the organization. This ensures that resources are focused on the most critical issues.
- Continuous Monitoring: Implementing continuous monitoring to detect and respond to new threats as they emerge, maintaining an adaptive and resilient security posture.
- Threat Intelligence Integration: Leveraging threat intelligence to contextualize vulnerabilities within the broader threat landscape, enhancing the ability to anticipate and mitigate attacks.
Conclusion
Attack surface management should be viewed as an integral part of a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy, not a standalone service that incurs additional costs. By offering our ASM capabilities for free through the Chariot platform, Praetorian aims to democratize access to essential security tools, enabling organizations to focus on identifying and mitigating material risks. This proactive approach to vulnerability management and continuous threat exposure management represents the future of cybersecurity, where the emphasis is on strategic risk reduction rather than reactive vulnerability patching.
Learn more about the risks associated with GitHub and how Praetorian is working to mitigate them through our Chariot platform. Empower your organization with the tools needed to stay ahead of potential attacks and shift the focus from vulnerability discovery to proactive risk management.
