Evolution Of Cyber Threats: Why Attack Surface Management Is Critical Today

“Your organization’s attack surface is bigger than you think.”

As digital transformation accelerates, businesses, government agencies, and financial institutions in India are expanding their digital footprints—often unknowingly. Every new cloud deployment, third-party vendor integration, and remote access point increases the number of potential attack vectors. Yet, many organizations still operate under outdated security models that fail to account for this growing complexity.

This is why Attack Surface Management (ASM) has become a strategic necessity. It provides continuous visibility into an organization’s exposed assets, proactively identifying vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. In an era where cybercriminals operate with increasing sophistication, Indian enterprises must shift from reactive defense to proactive risk mitigation.

The Expanding Digital Attack Surface a Growing Risk

Traditional security perimeters no longer exist. Today’s enterprises operate across multi-cloud environments, third-party SaaS applications, IoT devices, and remote work infrastructures, all of which expand their attack surfaces. This digital sprawl creates numerous security blind spots—ones that cybercriminals are actively exploiting.

According to Cyble Inc.’s Annual Threat Landscape Report 2024, cybercriminal activity on underground forums surged by 30%, with 9,300 incidents involving unauthorized access sales, data breaches, and extortion attempts. Platforms like Nuovo BreachForums have become marketplaces for selling stolen credentials and launching cyber extortion campaigns.

In India, industries such as banking, financial services, IT, and government agencies are frequently targeted due to their vast repositories of sensitive data. Misconfigured cloud environments and unpatched vulnerabilities remain key entry points, making it critical for organizations to continuously monitor and secure their digital assets.

How Attackers Exploit Unmanaged Attack Surfaces

Cybercriminals no longer rely on sophisticated hacking alone. Instead, they capitalize on unmonitored attack surfaces, using a variety of techniques to breach organizations:

Unpatched Vulnerabilities

• Attackers actively trade exploits for vulnerabilities in FortiOS, Microsoft Outlook, and Zimbra Collaboration Suite—all of which were widely targeted in 2024.
• Once these vulnerabilities are exploited, adversaries gain initial access, often leading to ransomware attacks or large-scale data exfiltration.

Shadow IT & Third-Party Risks

• Many enterprises lack visibility into unauthorized or poorly managed IT assets, making them easy prey for cybercriminals.
• In supply chain attacks, adversaries breach third-party vendors, using them as steppingstones to compromise larger organizations.

Dark Web Exposure: Selling Stolen Corporate Data

• Over 6,500 incidents in 2024 involved corporate credentials and access logs being sold on underground forums.
• Without proactive ASM, organizations often discover these leaks only when it’s too late—after financial losses, regulatory fines, and reputational damage have already occurred.

Why Indian Enterprises Must Prioritize Attack Surface Management

Many Indian organizations still focus on perimeter-based security, overlooking the fact that modern cyberattacks exploit external digital assets. ASM provides:

• Real-Time Discovery of Exposed Assets – Detects new cloud deployments, web applications, and third-party integrations that may be vulnerable.
• Continuous Monitoring for Exploitable Weaknesses – Identifies misconfigurations, unpatched software, and shadow IT before attackers do.
• Dark Web Intelligence & Threat Detection – Monitors underground forums for stolen credentials, unauthorized access listings, and data leaks.

For Indian enterprises, especially in BFSI and IT services, ASM serves as a frontline defense against cybercriminals who are constantly looking for exposed assets to exploit.

Proactive ASM is a Competitive Advantage for Indian Businesses

Organizations that integrate Attack Surface Management into their security frameworks gain a significant edge:

• Mitigating Zero-Day Exploits – Identifies and remediates unpatched systems before adversaries can use them for attacks.
• Detecting Unauthorized Access Sales – Enables security teams to intercept stolen credentials before they are weaponized.
• Reducing Supply Chain Attack Risks – Provides visibility into third-party vendors’ vulnerabilities, ensuring a stronger security posture.

India ranked among the top three most targeted nations for cyberattacks in 2024, highlighting the urgency for businesses to rethink their cybersecurity strategies. Delayed investment in ASM means greater financial, operational, and reputational risks—a cost that most enterprises cannot afford.

The Future of ASM: AI, Automation, and Threat Intelligence

Cyber threats are evolving, and so must ASM. Key advancements shaping the future of Attack Surface Management include:

• Automated Risk Prioritization – AI-driven tools will assess vulnerabilities in real-time, enabling organizations to focus on the most critical threats.
• AI-Powered Anomaly Detection – Machine learning models will identify emerging attack patterns, allowing businesses to stay ahead of adversaries.
• Tighter Threat Intelligence Integration – ASM will seamlessly connect with cyber threat intelligence platforms, providing a holistic view of external attack vectors.

As cybercriminals increasingly turn to data extortion, cloud exploitation, and AI-driven attacks, Indian businesses must adopt next-generation ASM solutions to stay ahead of these threats.

Cybersecurity is no longer just about firewalls and endpoint security—it’s about understanding, mapping, and managing an organization’s entire digital footprint. As India’s enterprises and government agencies embrace digital transformation, their attack surfaces will only continue to expand.

For Indian organizations to thrive in an era of relentless cyber threats, they must prioritize ASM, invest in threat intelligence, and embrace automation. The companies that do will not only protect their assets and reputation but will also lead the charge in building a more secure digital India.

About the Author

Ankit Sharma, Senior Director, and Head – Solutions Engineering, Cyble, is a Seasoned Techno-commercial professional, having refined skill set & relevant experience in driving both Topline & Bottomline growth. Domain expertise in the field of Program Delivery Management, Technical Sales & Key AccounT Management. Highly skilled Data security & Privacy professional, specializes in Data Privacy (Global Privacy law/regulations/standards & Privacy Information management Systems), Data Governance, Compliance Management & Cloud Security. Currently Heading Solution Engineering for Cyble Inc., managing the global team of some brilliant solutions engineers and architects, which also act as a bridge between the Clients and back-end teams. Responsible to drive business growth across the globe & support Cyble Sales.

He previously worked as a Lead- Global Service delivery & Lead Consultant- Data Governance & Privacy at Provise Consulting (Baker Tilly GCE). In this capacity, he delivered 100+ big ticket projects for diverse businesses ranging from Telecom to Real Estate, predominantly in Middle East, India, South East Asia & Europe region

Before joining Provise, he was associated with Aditya Birla Group (ABG), where he was Leading- Risk & Data Privacy function for BMCSL HR Shared Service. He also worked in the Corporate Information Security team of ABG as a IS & Privacy Project Manager, where he was involved in – Information Security, Data Privacy, Business Continuity, Risk Management & Compliance for the entire ABG conglomerate at the central level with help of the team of 140 ABG CISOs. This includes the challenging task of defining the information security and privacy requirements for a global and sector diverse businesses (such as manufacturing, telecom, finance and retail)

Ankit Sharma can be reached online at [email protected] and at our company website https://cyble.com/