IONIX and the Emerging DASR Space

Gartner is known for defining new security product categories and identifying solutions designed to address the various challenges that security teams face. As these categories mature, various providers are ranked based on their current offering and the completeness and clarity of their roadmap to address the identified challenge.

However, when defining a new category, Gartner also recognizes organizations pioneering solutions that define the new product category. When defining the Global Attack Surface Grid (GASG) and the security solutions designed to address the risks it introduces, Gartner recently recognized IONIX as part of the emerging Dynamic Attack Surface Reduction (DASR) category.

What is Dynamic Attack Surface Reduction (DASR?)

As explained in the guide Dynamic Attack Surface Reduction (DASR): continuously tracks and adapts to changes in an organization’s environment that could expand its attack surface such as new assets, exposures, or user behaviors. Using AI and contextual analysis, DASR can automatically decide what to restrict or allow, taking actions like shutting down unused ports, removing unnecessary access, and reconfiguring insecure systems. Unlike static hardening or one-time assessments, DASR delivers ongoing protection by continuously adjusting to evolving conditions.

According to the Gartner report Emerging Tech Impact Radar: Global Attack Surface Grid, “DASR will disrupt traditional vulnerability assessments and exposure management strategies and practices.” 

DASR and the GASG

Gartner coined the term Global Attack Surface Grid, or “GASG” to encompass the increasingly diverse and interconnected attack surfaces that companies face in the near future. Increased investment in areas such as AI and space has introduced new technologies and associated risks. At the same time, cyber-physical and autonomous systems have blurred the lines that traditionally separated different attack surfaces.

Complex infrastructures and a growth in automated, sophisticated cyberattacks demand new security solutions to manage organizations’ exposure to cyber threats. DASR is an emerging Gartner category designed to help organizations manage their evolving attack surfaces by using AI to automatically detect new security risks within attack surfaces and manage them through configuration changes and similar means.

IONIX and DASR

DASR is defined by continuous monitoring of an organization’s attack surface and the use of AI to address potential risks. For example, AI may disable unneeded ports and services on a system to reduce the set of potential vulnerabilities that an attacker could target and exploit.

The IONIX platform offers comprehensive visibility into an organization’s external attack surface, continuously inspecting and monitoring exposed systems and services to identify ownership, purpose, and potential vulnerabilities. By identifying and tracking asset dependencies down the digital supply chain, IONIX offers unmatched visibility into an organization’s attack surface.

With this visibility, the platform detects and validates potential vulnerabilities that pose a risk to the business. By taking an attacker-centric view and verifying each finding, the platform eliminates the slew of false positives that are common with traditional vulnerability scanners. Validated vulnerabilities are then mapped to critical assets and business flows, focusing remediation efforts on true threats to the business.

This combination of automated vulnerability identification and exposure validation exemplifies the DASR philosophy, as defined by Gartner. As a result, IONIX is listed as a sample vendor within the emerging DASR space.

Getting Started with DASR

Gartner coined the GASG, DASR, and other terms to provide insight into key security challenges that organizations will face in the near future and the technologies designed to address these risks. As attack surfaces explode in both size and complexity, and attackers use AI to guide and automate their attacks, automated, proactive security will be vital to manage cyber risk exposure at scale.

The IONIX platform enables security teams to take control of their attack surfaces today by automatically and continuously identifying the threats that attackers are most likely to exploit and that pose the biggest risk to the business. To learn more about the future of cybersecurity and DASR, sign up for a free IONIX demo.