Glossary

Continuous discovery is the process of constantly scanning the digital supply chain to identify previously unknown assets and vulnerabilities. It’s a necessary component of effective attack surface management. Continuous discovery represents a fundamental practice within the realm of cybersecurity, particularly in the context of attack surface management, aimed at maintaining visibility and awareness of the ever-evolving digital landscape and associated security risks. As organizations increasingly rely on interconnected systems, cloud services, and third-party dependencies within their digital supply chain, the need for continuous discovery becomes paramount to proactively identify and assess potential threats and vulnerabilities that may pose risks to the organization’s assets, data, and operations.

Continuous discovery involves the ongoing scanning, monitoring, and assessment of the digital ecosystem, encompassing internal networks, cloud environments, internet-facing assets, and third-party applications and services, to uncover previously unknown assets, configurations, and vulnerabilities that could serve as potential entry points for malicious actors or exploit vectors for cyber attacks. By leveraging automated discovery tools, vulnerability scanners, and threat intelligence feeds, organizations can systematically identify and catalog assets, assess their security posture, and prioritize remediation efforts based on the severity and criticality of discovered vulnerabilities.

Continuous discovery enables security teams to stay ahead of emerging threats, adapt to changes in the digital landscape, and maintain an up-to-date inventory of assets and configurations, thereby enhancing the organization’s resilience against cyber attacks and minimizing the likelihood of security breaches and data exposures. Furthermore, continuous discovery fosters a proactive security posture by facilitating rapid incident response, threat mitigation, and compliance with regulatory requirements and industry standards, such as asset inventory management, vulnerability assessment, and risk prioritization.

As organizations embrace digital transformation initiatives and adopt agile development practices, continuous discovery emerges as a foundational practice for effective attack surface management, enabling organizations to identify, assess, and mitigate security risks in real time, while fostering a culture of security awareness and accountability across the enterprise.