What is Attack Surface Monitoring?

In 2025, over four in ten businesses (43%) and three in ten charities (30%) reported having experienced cyber security breaches or attacks. These numbers highlight the urgent need to understand and manage your business’s cyber risks.

All businesses, regardless of size and sector, are at risk of cyber attacks. With AI being continuously exploited to scale cyber attacks, now is the time to invest in robust cyber security measures.

In this guide, we will explain attack surfaces, the differences between digital, physical, and social engineering attack surfaces, some of the techniques attackers are using to compromise your IT systems, and the benefits of attack surface monitoring. 

What Is an Attack Surface? 

An attack surface is all of the ways that an attacker could get into your IT systems, steal data, or cause a cyberattack. The larger your attack surface, the greater the risk of attack. Your attack surface is split into three areas:

Digital Attack Surface

Your digital attack surface includes all of the hardware and software that connects to your business’s IT network or systems, both internal and internet-facing.

Physical Attack Surface

Your physical attack surface includes all of the endpoint devices that an attacker could gain access to. For example, desktop computers, laptops, iPads, mobile phones, and USB drives. Carelessly discarded hardware is also a threat to your attack surface. 

Social Engineering (Human) Attack Surface

Your social engineering or human attack surface refers to the ways attackers manipulate your staff, such as phishing or impersonating colleagues, to gain access to sensitive information.

In 2025, the UK retailer M&S was the target of a social engineering cyber attack when attackers impersonated an M&S employee to trick a third party into resetting IT system credentials. The attack had severe consequences for M&S, with many months of disruption caused to the business, and profits for the year were almost wiped out.

As your business and workforce grow, your attack surface expands, and one of the most effective ways to protect it is by using managed IT services. 

What Is an Attack Vector?

An attack vector is the ‘break-in’ point that an attacker uses to gain access to a system. 

We often think of it like a burglar breaking into a home; their attack vectors might be unlocked doors, open windows, or finding a spare key under the doormat. In cybersecurity, attack vectors (or break-in points) are similar; they are weaknesses that can be exploited to compromise your systems.

Examples of attack vectors include:

• Weak admin accounts.
• Compromised credentials, for example, stolen passwords or guessed weak passwords.
• Weak protocols such as unpatched software, unencrypted Wi-Fi, misconfigured systems (i.e., cloud settings), and weak authentication protocols.
• Insecure remote access for home workers. 
• Unpatched legacy systems and outdated software. 
• Weaknesses in the company website and APIs.
• Malware downloaded via malicious links, attachments, or viruses.
• Threat actors carry out phishing techniques, such as sending malicious emails, text messages, or messages, designed to trick staff into sharing sensitive information in order to gain access to systems. 
• Malicious actions carried out by disgruntled or former employees. 
• Compromised supply chain attack surface. 

If you would like to understand your business’s attack surface and identify any vulnerabilities before attackers do, we can carry out a thorough assessment for you. Contact us today to learn more. 

What is Attack Surface Monitoring (ASM) & What are the Benefits?

Attack surface monitoring (ASM) is the process of monitoring your business’s attack surface in order to prevent an attacker from accessing your IT systems.

When businesses don’t carry out attack surface monitoring, they leave their IT systems exposed and open to attack.

Benefits of Attack Surface Monitoring

There are many significant benefits to attack surface monitoring, especially from a strategic and operational standpoint. 

Strategic benefits of attack surface monitoring include, but are not limited to, faster identification of attack vectors and shadow IT, greater protection against cyber attack, protection of company reputation as a trusted business, protection of customer data, GDPR compliance, and strategic cyber planning and investment. 

Operational benefits include real-time monitoring of your entire IT system, allowing early identification of potential threats and faster response time to breaches. 

By carrying out attack surface monitoring, you can identify any attack vectors or issues before attackers do. 

Why is it important to deal with legacy systems?

Legacy systems are high-priority attack vectors (break–in points) for cyber criminals, so it is vital to modernise or replace them. 

In 2025, DPP Law, based in Merseyside, was fined £60,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office following a cyber attack in 2022, which was carried out via a legacy case management system that lacked multi-factor authentication. 

The cyber attack led to over 32GB of data being stolen from DPP.  The law firm only became aware of the breach when the National Crime Agency informed them that highly sensitive client information had been published on the dark web. 

This type of scenario can be prevented by removing or replacing legacy systems and implementing attack surface monitoring with adequate security controls. 

At Net Consulting, we offer comprehensive managed IT services for legal, education, healthcare, and defence sectors. 

Protect Your Attack Surface with Net Consulting

At Net Consulting, we have over 20 years of experience in delivering digital IT services and can help your business in the first instance by carrying out a Vulnerability and Compliance Assessment.

Our assessment will unearth any security vulnerabilities within your business, determine how effective your current security measures are, and prioritise any new measures needed to increase your cyber resilience. 

If you would like to know exactly how your business can protect its attack surface and build cyber resilience, please get in touch today to book a free call.