External Attack Surface Pentesting (EASP) is a cybersecurity assessment that focuses on identifying vulnerabilities and weaknesses in an organization’s internet-facing assets, simulating the actions of a potential attacker.
Key aspects of EASP:
- Perspective: EASP is conducted from the perspective of an external attacker who has no prior knowledge or access to the organization’s internal systems.
- Targets: It targets all publicly accessible assets, including websites, web applications, servers, network devices, cloud infrastructure, and even social media profiles.
- Goals: The primary goals are to:
Methods used in EASP:
- Reconnaissance: Gathering information about the target assets through open-source intelligence (OSINT), scanning, and other techniques.
- Vulnerability Assessment: Identifying known vulnerabilities in software, configurations, and services using automated tools and manual techniques.
- Exploitation: Attempting to exploit identified vulnerabilities to assess their potential impact and the effectiveness of existing security controls.
- Post-Exploitation: If successful, simulating further attacks to understand the potential damage and lateral movement within the network.
Why is EASP important?
EASP is crucial for understanding an organization’s security posture from an attacker’s perspective. It helps identify weaknesses before they can be exploited by malicious actors, allowing for timely remediation and reducing the risk of security breaches.
How is EASP different from other types of pentesting?
- External vs. Internal: EASP focuses solely on external assets, while internal pentesting simulates attacks from within the organization’s network.
- Black Box vs. White Box: EASP is usually conducted as a black-box assessment, where the pentester has no prior knowledge of the target systems. In contrast, white-box assessments provide the pentester with internal knowledge, such as network diagrams and source code.