AGI – Cyber protection (better if preventive) is a need. But how to measure it before an attack? The Cyber Exposure Index, developed by Yoroi, a company specializing in cybersecurity, was born with the aim of doing so.
Its purpose is to measure the digital space that a possible attacker can use. The index is based on events that have already happened, such as a successful cyber attack; exploits information collected in Deep Web hacker forums; analyzes data for sale in illegal Dark Web marketplaces. It evaluates three variables: the number of services exposed, the vulnerability score and the data leakage index.
The higher the number of services that can be reached on the Internet, the more varied are the techniques an attacker can use to gain unauthorized access. This value tries to give an indication of the external attack surface, and is calculated from the sum of the different IPs, ports and protocols associated with the company and accessible from the outside. To reduce this risk index, a company should analyze all IPs and services exposed to the outside and reduce access to only those strictly necessary.
The more vulnerabilities an attacker can exploit, the easier it will be to compromise a host. With this index we want to estimate the ease with which an attacker can compromise the company perimeter, exploiting vulnerabilities remotely. To limit the risk, a company should update vulnerable software, giving priority to all services exposed on the network.
Finally, the more data leaks there are, the more easily the attacker will be able to obtain useful information to carry out an attack. A leak could only include personal information, but also protected passwords or even plaintext passwords.
“The focus of the Cyber Exposure Index – says Marco Ramilli, CEO of Yoroi – is not to judge the organization. It indicates the attacker’s probability of success and will change over time according to the actions taken to protect himself ”.
This exposure index is also the basis for giving substance to the concept of preventive analysis of the corporate supply chain, i.e. the need to assess the potential insecurity of one’s ecosystem. Without forgetting that it also attacks looks at these data. Criminal unions are financed by “investors” who aim for maximum profit. They will therefore be motivated to attack those who appear more vulnerable than those who appear to be less exposed.
The final value of the index, compared to that of similar companies in terms of size, activities and services, will also allow us to arrive at real benchmarks. “For every organization, institution or company – says Marco Castaldo, Yoroi’s managing director – today it is crucial to have timely information on one’s own security posture, before any vulnerabilities are exploited by attackers. To correctly evaluate that posture, it is necessary to analyze that organization from the inside, of course, but also from the outside, in search of its exposures ”.
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