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Glossary Term

External Security Posture Management (ESPM)

Continuous discovery and monitoring of every internet-facing asset so exposure changes are caught before attackers exploit them.

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External Security Posture Management (ESPM)

1-minute read

What it is

External Security Posture Management (ESPM) is the continuous process of identifying, monitoring, and assessing every asset that is visible on the public internet. ESPM keeps inventory of domains, subdomains, IPs, open ports, security headers, certificates, and exposed services—anything attackers can see without insider access.

Why it matters

Most intrusions start with an external exposure. Without ESPM, organizations can overlook:

  • Newly exposed services or ports from rapid cloud changes
  • Misconfigured DNS, SaaS, or storage resources
  • Expired or weak SSL/TLS certificates
  • Missing or weak security headers

These blind spots raise the chance of breaches, outages, and reputational damage.

How to reduce risk

  • Maintain a live inventory of internet-facing assets, owners, and business context
  • Continuously scan for posture changes rather than relying on one-off tests
  • Remediate misconfigurations quickly and track closure
  • Trend posture over time to prove improvements to leadership and regulators

Related Terms: Attack Surface, Attack Surface Discovery, Vulnerability Scanning

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