Cyber Risks · Unit 42 Palo Alto Networks

Unit 42 Attack Surface Threat Research: Over 23% of Internet-Connected Exposures Involve Critical IT and Security Infrastructure

Summary: Unit 42's Attack Surface Threat Report, drawing on observable internet exposure data from 265 global organizations over one year, found that an organization's attack surface adds over 300 new services per month on average, and those additions account for nearly 32% of new high or critical exposures. Over 23% of exposures among the studied organizations involve critical IT and security infrastructure, including application-layer protocol vulnerabilities and internet-accessible administrative login pages.

Key Takeaway: Attackers most often gained initial access through software vulnerabilities in the past year, with the largest campaigns exploiting internet-facing systems - and nearly a third of your new critical exposures arrive with the services your teams add every month.

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Detection & Response
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