Exposure surface management services focus on identifying and managing all the potential points where an organization's assets, such as data, applications, and systems, could be exposed to risks. This includes not only external threats but also internal vulnerabilities. It encompasses a broad range of activities like monitoring network access points, ensuring proper configuration of systems, and managing user access rights.
For example, an exposure surface management service might identify that an employee has left their laptop unattended in a public area, which could potentially expose sensitive data. The service would then take steps to mitigate this risk, such as remotely wiping the laptop or alerting the security team.
Attack surface management, on the other hand, is a subset of exposure surface management that specifically focuses on identifying and managing the points where an attacker could potentially gain unauthorized access to an organization's systems or data. This includes external-facing assets like web servers, APIs, and cloud services, as well as internal assets that could be exploited by insiders or attackers who have gained a foothold within the network.
For instance, an attack surface management tool might scan an organization's network and identify that a web server is running an outdated version of software that contains known vulnerabilities. The tool would then alert the security team to this issue so that they can patch the vulnerability before it can be exploited by attackers.
In the context of cloud services, Tencent Cloud offers a comprehensive suite of security solutions that can help with both exposure surface management and attack surface management. For example, Tencent Cloud's Web Application Firewall (WAF) can help protect web applications from common attacks, while its Cloud Workload Protection (CWP) service can monitor and secure workloads running on Tencent Cloud's infrastructure, helping to reduce the attack surface.