A Novel Approach to Security-Driven Web Application Protection through Attack Surface Management

As digital technology advances, the need for robust cybersecurity measures has grown, particularly for small and mid-cap companies facing increasing cyber threats. This paper presents an Attack Surface Management (ASM) system designed to identify, monitor, and assess vulnerabilities in a corporation’s digital assets. The system integrates open-source tools for automated subdomain enumeration, IP address mapping, and real-time monitoring, ensuring continuous visibility into the attack surface. The backend leverages Nuclei Engine with custom private YAML templates, optimizing vulnerability detection and minimizing false positives. A cloud-hosted user-friendly dashboard provides security professionals with an intuitive interface to input domains, review scan results, and manage security assessments efficiently. Additionally, the system allows targeted scanning for critical web application vulnerabilities, enabling proactive security measures. This study highlights the system’s effectiveness in reducing exposure to cyber threats and discusses its real-world applicability, deployment challenges, and future enhancements to improve automation and accuracy in ASM.