Digital Detritus
Digital detritus, in the context of cybersecurity, refers to the accumulation of outdated, unpatched, and unsupported hardware and software that remains connected to networks. This "digital junk" poses a significant and growing threat to cybersecurity because it creates vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit.
Here's a breakdown of the key aspects:
Outdated and unpatched: Devices and software no longer receiving security updates or patches are particularly vulnerable. Attackers can easily find and exploit known weaknesses in these systems.
Unsupported: Vendors typically cease providing security updates when they stop supporting a product. This leaves users with no way to fix newly discovered vulnerabilities.
Connected to networks: The real danger arises when this outdated technology remains connected to a network. It provides an entry point for attackers to access sensitive data or systems.
Why is digital detritus a problem?
Expanding attack surface: Each piece of digital detritus increases the potential points of entry for attackers.
Easy targets: Attackers often target known vulnerabilities in outdated systems because they are easy to exploit.
Lateral movement: Once inside a network, attackers can use compromised digital detritus to move laterally and access more sensitive systems.
Examples of digital detritus:
Old routers and firewalls
Unpatched servers and workstations
Outdated operating systems and applications
IoT devices with weak security
What can be done about digital detritus?
Prioritize patching and updates: Regularly apply security patches and updates to all devices and software.
Adopt secure configurations: Minimize the attack surface by disabling unnecessary features and services.
Implement strong authentication: Use multi-factor authentication to prevent unauthorized access.
Engage with vendors: Stay informed about deployed products' security advisories and end-of-life policies.
Replace outdated technology: Develop a plan to replace obsolete hardware and software no longer supported.
Addressing the problem of digital detritus requires a collaborative effort from vendors and users. Vendors need to prioritize security in their products and provide clear end-of-life policies. Users need to be proactive in patching, updating, and replacing outdated technology.
ThreatNG is designed to provide organizations with a detailed understanding of their external attack surface, digital risk posture, and security ratings. It offers a range of capabilities that can help organizations identify and address digital detritus vulnerabilities.
External Discovery and Assessment:
ThreatNG excels at discovering and assessing externally facing assets without requiring any internal network access. It uses various techniques to identify and analyze internet-facing assets, including:
Domain Intelligence: ThreatNG gathers extensive information about an organization's domain names, subdomains, DNS records, SSL certificates, and associated IP addresses. This helps uncover outdated or misconfigured systems that may be vulnerable to attack.
Cloud and SaaS Exposure: ThreatNG identifies cloud services and SaaS applications the organization uses, highlighting potential security risks associated with these platforms.
Sensitive Code Exposure: ThreatNG scans public code repositories for exposed credentials, API keys, and other sensitive information that attackers could exploit.
Technology Stack Analysis: ThreatNG identifies the technologies the organization uses, helping pinpoint outdated or vulnerable software versions.
Reporting and Continuous Monitoring:
ThreatNG provides detailed reports and continuous monitoring capabilities to keep track of digital detritus and other security risks.
Reporting: ThreatNG offers various reports, including technical summaries, prioritized risk assessments, and security ratings, to help organizations understand their security posture and identify areas for improvement.
Continuous Monitoring: ThreatNG continuously monitors the external attack surface, digital risk, and security ratings of all organizations, providing real-time alerts on new vulnerabilities and threats.
ThreatNG includes several investigation modules that can be used to delve deeper into specific security risks and vulnerabilities.
Domain Intelligence: This module provides an in-depth analysis of domain names, subdomains, DNS records, email configurations, and WHOIS information. This helps identify outdated or misconfigured systems, potential subdomain takeover vulnerabilities, and email security weaknesses.
IP Intelligence: This module analyzes IP addresses associated with the organization, identifying shared IPs, ASNs, country locations, and private IPs.
Certificate Intelligence: This module assesses the status and validity of TLS certificates, helping to identify expired or improperly configured certificates that could expose sensitive data.
Social Media: This module analyzes social media posts from the organization, identifying potential security risks related to exposed information or social engineering attacks.
Cloud and SaaS Exposure: This module provides detailed information on cloud services and SaaS applications used by the organization, including sanctioned and unsanctioned services, impersonations, and open exposed cloud buckets.
Dark Web Presence: This module monitors the dark web for mentions of the organization, associated ransomware events, and compromised credentials.
ThreatNG maintains several intelligence repositories that provide valuable context and insights into security risks. These repositories include information on:
Dark web activity
Compromised credentials
Ransomware events and groups
Known vulnerabilities
ESG violations
Working with Complementary Solutions:
ThreatNG can integrate with other security tools to enhance its capabilities and provide a more comprehensive security solution. For example, ThreatNG can integrate with:
Vulnerability scanners: to identify and prioritize vulnerabilities in external systems.
Security information and event management (SIEM) systems: to correlate ThreatNG findings with other security events and improve threat detection.
Threat intelligence platforms: to enrich ThreatNG data with external threat information.
Examples of ThreatNG Helping:
ThreatNG can identify outdated software versions running on external systems, allowing organizations to patch or upgrade them before attackers exploit them.
ThreatNG can uncover exposed credentials and API keys in public code repositories, enabling organizations to revoke or rotate them to prevent unauthorized access.
ThreatNG can detect subdomain takeover vulnerabilities, allowing organizations to reclaim control of their subdomains and prevent phishing or malware attacks.
Examples of ThreatNG Working with Complementary Solutions:
ThreatNG can integrate with a vulnerability scanner to identify and prioritize vulnerabilities in external systems. The vulnerability scanner can provide detailed information on the severity and exploitability of vulnerabilities, while ThreatNG can give context on the affected systems and their business criticality.
ThreatNG can integrate with a SIEM system to correlate ThreatNG findings with other security events. For example, if ThreatNG detects a compromised credential on the dark web, the SIEM system can search for login attempts using that credential.
ThreatNG can integrate with a threat intelligence platform to enrich ThreatNG data with external threat information. For example, if ThreatNG detects a suspicious domain name, the threat intelligence platform can be used to check if that domain is associated with known malware or phishing campaigns.
Using ThreatNG and its various capabilities, organizations can effectively identify and address digital detritus vulnerabilities, reducing their overall security risk.
