How To Reduce Your Attack Surface‍

How To Reduce Your Attack Surface‍

How To Reduce Your Attack Surface

First off, what is an attack surface?


An attack surface consists of every part of you or your company’s system that is susceptible to a breach. Picture it as the whole external surface of your company. Now, take a second to think about every point of entry that a cybercriminal could find to infiltrate your network; there are a ton.

This is why it's super important to limit the apps, hardware, software, and devices you use. Everything that is not absolutely essential for you or your business to function should be taken out of your system. By leaving unimportant or unnecessary things in your system, you're essentially expanding your attack surface and creating a larger target for cybercriminals to attack.


With a larger attack surface, there's a much higher risk that a cybercriminal could gain access to your systems and that could lead to a breach of your private information. This includes but is not limited to employee records, financial records, product and business development information, and much more.


So, if we can find ways to reduce your attack surface, you and your company will have an overall lower risk of falling prey to an attack.

Here’s What You Should Be Doing


You first need to identify your vulnerabilities which include all of your access points, movement of data through applications, passwords, and outdated code.


After that, assess your risk and address critical areas accordingly.


Some things you should keep in mind for future monitoring are:


  • Managing access points for employees, clients, etc.

  • Clean out old and expired certificates and code

  • Ensure your employees are up to date on current security policy. This includes password management, using multi-factor authentication, and other security practices

  • Do regular scans to ensure nothing suspicious is going on

  • Keep backups for sensitive data so you’ll still have a copy if you suffer a breach

  • Separate your network so if one area is breached, it won’t affect your whole system