The comprehensive guide to unified attack surface and cloud security posture management
Cybersecurity today is a game of visibility. You can't protect what you can't see — and most organizations have blind spots both outside and inside their infrastructure.
External exposure like forgotten domains or unsecured APIs. Internal misconfigurations like open storage buckets or weak IAM roles. These risks often go unnoticed until it's too late.
That's why the combination of Attack Surface Management (ASM) and Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) is becoming essential.
In this guide, we'll explain what each does, why they're stronger together, and how Tresal unifies them into one accessible platform.
What is Attack Surface Management (ASM)?
ASM is the continuous discovery, monitoring, and analysis of all your externally facing assets. These include:
- Domains and subdomains
- IP addresses and ports
- Exposed APIs and endpoints
- Forgotten dev or staging environments
- SaaS apps connected to your environment
- Found credentials in private or public breaches
Goal: Identify what attackers see first, and detect vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.
Modern ASM tools (like Tresal) go beyond one-time scans. They continuously track changes to your footprint and flag new exposures as they emerge.
What is Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)?
CSPM focuses on your internal cloud configurations. It scans for misconfigurations, compliance violations, and risky settings across your cloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP).
Typical CSPM alerts include:
- Publicly open S3 buckets or blob storage
- Over-permissive IAM roles
- Unused credentials or keys
- Non-compliant resources against CIS, ISO, GDPR
Goal: Enforce cloud security best practices and maintain compliance across environments.
CSPM provides context and depth ASM lacks — you go from "what's visible" to "what's vulnerable."
Why ASM and CSPM are better together
Both offer valuable insights. But neither is enough alone.
- ASM gives you the outside-in view.
- CSPM gives you the inside-out view.
Together, they offer full-spectrum visibility:
- You detect risky assets and understand why they're risky.
- You prevent breaches due to exposed services and fix the root causes inside.
- You reduce alert fatigue with prioritized, correlated findings.
This is the foundation of modern security operations.
Real-world use case: A developer deploys a new app
- The app gets its own subdomain: app.clientdomain.com
- An S3 bucket is provisioned, but set to public
- An API endpoint is added for uploads
ASM detects the new subdomain and public-facing endpoint.
CSPM identifies the misconfigured bucket and weak permissions.
Tresal connects the dots. You get one alert showing:
- What's exposed (domain + endpoint)
- What's misconfigured (S3 bucket)
- What action to take
How Tresal brings ASM + CSPM together
Most tools force you to choose: external or internal.
Tresal is built for unified visibility:
Attack Surface Scanning Continuous discovery of public-facing assets, shadow IT, and changes in your digital footprint.
Posture Management Cloud configuration scans across AWS, Azure, GCP for misconfigurations and compliance risks.
Correlated Findings One dashboard. One source of truth. No noise.
Lightweight & accessible Built for lean security teams, MSSPs, and SMEs that don't want enterprise-level complexity.
Getting started: What to expect from a scan
Whether you're testing Tresal for the first time or running your 100th scan, here's what you can expect:
- A list of all external assets (known + unknown)
- Risk scoring and classification
- Cloud config risks mapped to CIS/GDPR/ISO
- Suggested remediations with clear actions
You go from "I didn't know this existed" to "Here's how to fix it" in minutes.
Conclusion
Cyber threats don't care where the weakness lives. Neither should your tools.
By combining ASM and CSPM, Tresal gives you one simple place to:
- See your full attack surface
- Detect misconfigurations
- Fix issues before attackers find them
Know what's exposed. Before attackers do.
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Matthias
CPO & Cyber Security Enthusiast
CPO bridging product strategy and cybersecurity—sharing insights on secure product design, attack surface awareness, and platform risk management.
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