Beyond Tools & CVEs: Uncovering Hidden Security Risks
▼ Summary
– The CVE program faced a crisis in April but was saved, remaining a critical global resource for tracking vulnerabilities despite not covering all security issues.
– The current vulnerability management model is broken, as exploited CVEs represent only a fraction of enterprise exposures, and traditional tools lack full visibility.
– Exposure management is challenging due to the expanding and complex corporate attack surface, including cloud, OT, and IoT assets, which are dynamic and hard to track.
– Only a third of data breaches involve known exploited vulnerabilities, and traditional tools miss many assets, creating opportunities for attackers.
– A new approach combining active scanning, passive discovery, and API integrations is needed for comprehensive visibility and actionable insights into all exposures.
Cybersecurity teams face mounting challenges as traditional vulnerability management approaches fall short in today’s complex threat landscape. While Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) remain a critical resource for tracking known flaws, they represent just a fraction of the risks organizations actually face. The reality is that most security tools lack the visibility needed to detect hidden threats across sprawling digital environments.
The modern attack surface extends far beyond traditional IT infrastructure, encompassing cloud workloads, IoT devices, operational technology (OT), and shadow IT, many of which evade conventional monitoring. Threat actors increasingly exploit misconfigurations, weak segmentation, and unmanaged assets rather than relying solely on documented CVEs. Research shows that only a third of recent breaches involved known vulnerabilities, highlighting the urgent need for a broader approach to exposure management.
One major hurdle is the sheer complexity of today’s networks. Assets are distributed across hybrid environments, with cloud-native systems constantly shifting. Traditional tools, often limited to agent-based scans or credential-dependent checks, miss critical blind spots. Even when vulnerabilities are identified, prioritization remains a challenge, scoring systems like CVSS and EPSS provide guidance but fail to account for real-world context, leaving security teams overwhelmed by alerts.
To stay ahead, organizations must adopt a holistic strategy that goes beyond CVEs. Comprehensive visibility starts with combining active scanning, passive discovery, and API integrations to map every asset, whether managed or not. Advanced fingerprinting techniques can then profile each device, identifying misconfigurations, outdated software, and risky connections. By enriching this data with contextual insights, such as asset ownership and network relationships, teams can pinpoint exposures that would otherwise go unnoticed.
The key lies in consolidating these capabilities into a unified platform that delivers actionable, risk-based alerts. Simplifying exposure management through automation and intelligent prioritization helps overburdened teams focus on the most critical threats. In an era where attackers exploit gaps faster than defenders can patch them, proactive, data-driven security is no longer optional, it’s essential for survival.
(Source: HelpNet Security)
