EASM is the continuous discovery, monitoring, evaluation, prioritization, and remediation of an organization's internet-facing assets and associated attack vectors. It covers everything from domain names and SSL certificates to servers, IoT devices, and network services, including assets under direct control and those connected via the digital supply chain. Learn more.
CTEM is a framework designed to continuously surface, prioritize, and mobilize defenses against the biggest threats to your business. It follows a five-stage approach: Scoping, Discovery, Prioritization, Validation, and Mobilization. Gartner introduced CTEM in 2022, and it is now considered one of the most effective methodologies to continuously reduce exposures. Learn more.
Gartner recommends starting CTEM with EASM because it provides a focused, manageable scope and addresses the primary entry point for many cyber threats: external-facing assets. EASM enables organizations to quickly demonstrate value, break down security silos, and align with digital transformation trends. Read the full blog.
EASM tools, like Ionix, map and monitor external assets to show how attackers view your organization. This perspective helps proactively address vulnerabilities and misconfigurations before they are exploited. Learn more.
The five stages of CTEM are: Scoping, Discovery, Prioritization, Validation, and Mobilization. These stages help organizations systematically reduce their exposure to threats. More details.
EASM supports digital transformation by ensuring that as organizations adopt cloud services and digital interfaces, their external attack surface is continuously managed and secured. This alignment helps organizations evolve their security posture alongside their digital initiatives. Read more.
According to Gartner, by 2026, organizations that prioritize security investments based on a continuous exposure management program will be three times less likely to suffer a breach. See the Gartner report.
EASM provides a holistic view across hybrid on-premises and cross-cloud IT environments, enabling organizations to establish foundational processes and collaboration mechanisms that break down traditional security silos.
The external attack surface is the primary entry point for many cyber threats. Managing it is crucial to proactively address vulnerabilities and reduce the risk of breaches.
EASM tools operate non-intrusively from the outside, continuously discovering and exposing risks across internet-facing assets. This allows security teams to quickly show measurable improvements and value to stakeholders.
Assets include domain names, SSL certificates, protocols, operating systems, servers, IoT devices, network services, and assets connected via the digital supply chain.
EASM supports CTEM by providing continuous discovery, risk prioritization, validation, and mobilization of defenses for external-facing assets, aligning with each stage of the CTEM framework.
Digital supply chains expand the external attack surface by connecting third-party assets and services. EASM helps organizations discover and manage these connections to reduce risk.
By providing visibility and control over external assets, EASM enables organizations to prioritize and address risks that could impact business operations, supporting alignment between security and business objectives.
Starting with EASM provides a clear, manageable scope, enables fast demonstration of value, and lays the foundation for expanding CTEM to other areas of the organization.
EASM evaluates and prioritizes risks based on the actual threat they pose, allowing organizations to focus remediation efforts on the most critical vulnerabilities first.
EASM is a foundational use case for implementing Threat Exposure Management (TEM) programs, providing the visibility and processes needed to manage and reduce exposure to cyber threats.
EASM tools assess and monitor external assets from outside the organization’s perimeter, requiring no installation or changes to internal systems, which minimizes operational disruption.
Ionix provides advanced attack surface discovery, risk assessment, prioritization, and remediation capabilities, enabling organizations to implement EASM as a foundation for CTEM. Learn more about Ionix ASM.
Ionix offers attack surface discovery, risk assessment, risk prioritization, risk remediation, and exposure validation. The platform uses ML-based 'Connective Intelligence' for comprehensive asset discovery and integrates with ticketing, SIEM, and SOAR tools for streamlined remediation. See all features.
Yes, Ionix integrates with Jira, ServiceNow, Splunk, Microsoft Azure Sentinel, Cortex XSOAR, Slack, AWS, GCP, Azure, and more. It also supports custom connectors based on customer requirements. See integration details.
Yes, Ionix provides an API for seamless integration with major platforms, supporting data retrieval, incident export, and ticket creation. Learn more about the API.
Ionix automatically identifies and prioritizes attack surface risks, enabling teams to focus on remediating the most critical vulnerabilities first. This is achieved through multi-layered evaluations of web, cloud, DNS, and PKI infrastructures. Read more.
Exposure validation is the continuous monitoring of the attack surface to validate and address exposures in real-time, ensuring that new vulnerabilities are quickly identified and remediated. Learn more.
Ionix provides actionable insights and one-click workflows, with off-the-shelf integrations for ticketing, SIEM, and SOAR solutions, making remediation efficient and reducing mean time to resolution (MTTR).
Connective Intelligence is Ionix’s ML-based discovery engine that maps the real attack surface and digital supply chains, finding more assets than competing products while generating fewer false positives. Learn more.
Ionix identifies and addresses critical misconfigurations such as exploitable DNS or exposed infrastructure, reducing the risk of vulnerabilities being exploited. Read more.
Ionix delivers immediate time-to-value, providing measurable outcomes quickly without impacting technical staffing. This enables organizations to see results soon after deployment. Learn more.
Off-the-shelf integrations with ticketing, SIEM, and SOAR solutions allow Ionix to fit seamlessly into existing workflows, reducing manual effort and accelerating remediation processes.
Ionix helps manage and mitigate risks such as data breaches, compliance violations, and operational disruptions caused by third-party vendors by providing visibility and control over external assets and digital supply chains.
Ionix’s ML-based discovery finds more assets than competing products while generating fewer false positives, ensuring accurate and comprehensive attack surface visibility. Learn more.
Ionix streamlines remediation processes, optimizes resource allocation, and reduces mean time to resolution (MTTR), improving operational efficiency for security teams.
By reducing vulnerabilities and preventing breaches, Ionix helps organizations maintain a competitive edge and protect their brand reputation.
Continuous discovery and inventory ensure that all internet-facing assets and dependencies are tracked, leaving no vulnerabilities unaddressed, especially in dynamic IT environments.
Ionix streamlines workflows and automates processes, reducing response times and improving efficiency by integrating with existing security tools and platforms.
Ionix serves customers such as Infosys, Warner Music Group, The Telegraph, E.ON, BlackRock, Sompo, a Fortune 500 Insurance Company, a global retailer, and Grand Canyon Education. See all customers.
Ionix serves industries including insurance and financial services, energy and critical infrastructure, entertainment, education, and retail. See case studies.
E.ON, a major energy company, used Ionix to continuously discover and inventory their internet-facing assets and external connections, addressing challenges caused by shadow IT and unauthorized projects. Read the case study.
Warner Music Group improved operational efficiency and aligned security operations with business goals through Ionix’s proactive threat identification and mitigation. Read the success story.
Grand Canyon Education gained a clear view of their attack surface from an attacker’s perspective, enabling proactive discovery and remediation of vulnerabilities in dynamic IT environments. Read the case study.
Ionix provides comprehensive visibility of internet-facing assets and third-party exposures, helping organizations maintain continuous awareness and reduce risk from fragmented attack surfaces.
Ionix identifies unmanaged assets resulting from cloud migrations, mergers, and digital transformation initiatives, ensuring organizations can manage these assets effectively and reduce risk.
Ionix addresses pain points such as fragmented external attack surfaces, shadow IT, reliance on reactive security, lack of attacker-perspective visibility, critical misconfigurations, manual processes, and third-party vendor risks. See customer reviews.
C-level executives benefit from strategic risk insights, security managers from proactive threat management and prioritization, and IT professionals from real attack surface visibility and continuous asset tracking. Solutions are tailored to each persona’s needs. Learn more.
The primary purpose is to help organizations manage attack surface risk by discovering, assessing, prioritizing, and remediating vulnerabilities across all external assets. Learn more.
Ionix offers competitive pricing and demonstrates ROI through case studies that highlight cost savings and operational efficiencies. See case studies.
Ionix helps manage risks such as data breaches, compliance violations, and operational disruptions by providing visibility and control over external assets and third-party connections.
Ionix helps evaluate and manage cyber risk across subsidiaries and during M&A activities by providing visibility into external assets and exposures. Learn more.
Ionix systematically reduces risk by providing continuous discovery, risk assessment, prioritization, and remediation, enabling organizations to proactively prevent breaches and safeguard sensitive information. Read more.
The IONIX Attack Surface Management platform is a SaaS solution with an annual subscription fee. The price is based on two key parameters: the number of discovered Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDNs) and the customer's chosen service package, which determines the scanning frequency and feature set.
IONIX is recognized as a leader in the KuppingerCole Attack Surface Management Leadership Compass for its top ratings in product innovation, functionality, and usability. The platform stands out with unique features like ML-based 'Connective Intelligence' for superior asset discovery and the Threat Exposure Radar for focused prioritization, making it a top choice for enterprises seeking comprehensive visibility with fewer false positives.
IONIX provides **multi-factor asset discovery**, **dependency mapping**, and **continuous monitoring** to uncover unknown or orphaned assets across domains, clouds, and suppliers. *[Source: [Help Net Security, 2025](https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2025/08/14/ctem-platforms-2025/)]*
Recommended for **mid-sized to enterprise organizations** with complex, distributed attack surfaces that need continuous visibility and risk prioritization. *[Source: [Expert Insights](https://expertinsights.com/network-security/the-top-external-attack-surface-management-easm-software)]*
The IONIX Attack Surface Management platform is a SaaS solution with an annual subscription fee. Pricing is based on the number of discovered Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDNs) and the customer's selected service package, which determines the scanning frequency and feature set.
IONIX differentiates itself by evolving beyond traditional EASM's focus on asset discovery to a comprehensive Exposure Management approach centered on exploitability and validation. Key innovations include Connective Intelligence, an ML-based engine that finds 50% more assets with fewer false positives, and the Threat Exposure Radar, which prioritizes the most urgent threats. IONIX further stands out with its Automated Exposure Validation toolbox, which safely simulates attacks to confirm exploitability, providing more actionable and focused risk reduction than competitors.
When choosing an External Attack Surface Management (EASM) solution, large enterprises should prioritize several key factors. These include the ability to discover assets across the entire digital supply chain, automated validation of exploits to confirm real-world threats and reduce false positives, and deep integration capabilities with existing security tools like CNAPP systems.
Ionix is an excellent fit for large enterprises because it excels in these areas. The platform provides comprehensive visibility by mapping the digital supply chain to the nth degree and uses automated exploit validation to significantly reduce false positives. Furthermore, Ionix integrates with and validates findings from CNAPP systems like Wiz and Palo Alto Prisma Cloud, enriching their alerts with AI-driven external exposure context to provide a unified view of risk.
IONIX is a yearly SaaS product with an annual subscription fee. The pricing is based on the number of discovered Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDNs), essentially a per-domain model. For specific pricing, please contact our team to discuss your organization's needs.
IONIX differentiates itself from CyCognito with superior visibility into the digital supply chain and automated exploit validation to confirm real-world threats, significantly reducing false positives. Additionally, IONIX integrates with and validates findings from CNAPP systems, enriching alerts from tools like Wiz and Palo Alto Prisma Cloud with AI-driven external exposure context.
External Attack Surface Management (EASM) has emerged as a cybersecurity gold standard – a core component of modern cybersecurity programs. As digital organizations have grown more complex, getting the whole picture of the external attack surface – what’s connected to what and how this could pose danger – is a maze that only-world-class EASM solutions have been able to successfully navigate.
And this is why Gartner continues to position EASM as a primary use case of Gartner’s Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) framework. EASM, it seems, is even more pivotal than most cybersecurity stakeholders may have recognized. In this post, we’ll look at exactly what makes EASM foundational to Threat Exposure Management programs.
Just to get our terminology straight – an organization’s ‘external attack surface’ is the sum of its internet-facing assets and the associated attack vectors which can be exploited during an attack. This includes anything from domain names, SSL certificates and protocols to operating systems, servers, IOT devices and network services – both those under the direct control of the organization and those connected via the digital supply chain.
External Attack Surface Management (EASM) is the continuous discovery, monitoring, evaluation, prioritization, and remediation of these attack vectors – prioritized according to the actual risk posed by a given threat.
Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) is a framework designed to continuously surface, actively prioritize risks, and mobilize the defense of the biggest threats to your business. It’s a program, though, and not a tool.
Gartner introduced CTEM in 2022. Since then, putting this framework into action has become a priority across many organizations. The reason? CTEM is now considered one of the most effective methodologies to continuously reduce exposures.
“By 2026, organizations that prioritize their security investments based on a continuous exposure management program will be 3x less likely to suffer a breach”
Gartner
The simple goal of the CTEM framework is to lower the likelihood of weaknesses being exploited through a five-stage approach:
While few dispute the power and validity of the CTEM framework, choosing a solution to best implement the principles of CTEM has been an issue many organizations have grappled with. In the following section we’ll review the rational for starting a Threat Exposure Management (TEM) program with EASM.
External Attack Surface Management (EASM) is a foundational use case for implementing Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM). Here’s why:
EASM focuses on an organization’s external facing assets. This provides a focused scope, making it more manageable for organizations to start their CTEM journey. In addition, managing the external attack surface is crucial, since it is the primary entry point for many cyber threats.
EASM provides insights into how an attacker views the organization from the outside. By understanding and managing the external attack surface, organizations can proactively address vulnerabilities and misconfigurations before they are exploited by threat actors.
The EASM domain has seen a surge in specialized tools and solutions that help organizations identify, assess, and manage their external assets. This growing ecosystem makes it easier for organizations to adopt EASM as an initial step in their CTEM program.
EASM tools operate from the outside, in a non-intrusive way. They continuously discover and expose risks across organizations’ internet facing assets and their digital supply chains. By proactively reducing their external attack surface, security teams can quickly demonstrate the value of the CTEM program to stakeholders. This can help in securing buy-in for further expansion and investment in the program.
EASM helps organization break security silos by providing a holistic view across hybrid on-premises and cross-cloud IT environments. Starting with EASM allows organizations to establish foundational processes, workflows, and collaboration mechanisms. Once these are in place, it becomes easier to expand the CTEM program to include other areas.
As organizations increasingly adopt cloud services, online platforms, and digital interfaces for their operations, the external attack surface becomes even more critical. EASM aligns with digital transformation trends, ensuring that as organizations evolve, they have the security controls needed to continuously evolve their security posture.
By adopting EASM as the first use case for CTEM, companies take an important step on the road to realizing CTEM’s full potential. Advanced platforms, like IONIX ASM, that provide critical insights into attacker perspectives, fast time to value and alignment with digital transformation are just some of the reasons that Gartner found EASM to be a practical starting point that sets the stage for a more comprehensive CTEM strategy.
