Cybersecurity Asset Management (CSAM): The InfoSec Guide

The most frightening sentence in the InfoSec world is arguably, “Oh, wow, we didn’t know that was running…” When your organization is using a digital asset like a server or software-as-a-service (SaaS) app, but no one knows about it, you’re exposed to unknown risks. If you’re attacked, you will hear the next most frightening sentence, which is, “We didn’t know this asset existed, but it has been breached.” 

You can’t protect an asset if you don’t know it’s there. And, you will certainly have trouble responding to a security incident involving an unknown or poorly documented asset. With 69% of CIOs planning to adopt between 30 and 60 new AI apps in 2025, the management and security problem known as “asset sprawl” is becoming more acute. If your organization is like most, you’re no longer just managing a few devices or on-premises servers. Your security team is likely juggling hundreds of assets, many of which are scattered across the cloud.

Cyber Asset Management (CSAM) offers a solution. This framework helps IT departments and security teams identify all relevant digital assets and stay on top of their cyber defense. This article explores how CSAM works and why it’s an increasingly important element of a cybersecurity strategy.

What is Cybersecurity Asset Management (CSAM)?

Cybersecurity asset management is a framework comprising a body of practices and purpose-built tools that protect your hardware, data, software, and network infrastructure from cyber threats. CSAM is not  a product, though there are products that offer CSAM functionality. It’s important to note, however, that CSAM almost always involves integration between security systems, such as linking identity and access management (IAM) solutions with CSAM asset inventorying applications, and so forth.

Like most open-ended frameworks, CSAM gets realized in many different ways, but a CSAM implementation usually has the following capabilities:

• Continuous discovery of assets relevant to cybersecurity, i.e., “cybersecurity assets”—making IT and security operations (SecOps) teams aware of all assets. Done right, this means that there will be no hidden assets or users.
• A real-time inventory of assets—enabling stakeholders to know what’s on the network on an ongoing, up-to-date basis, vs. periodic inventories, which quickly become obsolete.
• Detailed asset classification—offering granular descriptions and categorization of assets, which is useful for determining access controls and criticality for protection and restoration.

A CSAM implementation may also have integrations that enable vulnerability tracking by asset, automated policy enforcement, anomaly detection, and compliance monitoring or assurance. For example, integrating continuous web application penetration testing services, can enhance vulnerability management by providing real-time insights into potential security weaknesses. CSAM also often integrates with security tools like SIEM, SOAR, SaaS security platforms, and so forth.

Who needs CSAM? Any organization that has more than a handful of digital assets is a good candidate for CSAM, though larger entities, especially ones that are growing in the cloud, are definitely in need. Companies that need to comply with the US Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2002 (FISMA) will find CSAM helpful, if not essential, in complying with FISMA’s required inventory tracking and ongoing authorization processes.

Why is Cybersecurity Asset Management (CSAM) Important?

CSAM is a worthwhile framework to adopt. In addition to facilitating FISMA compliance, CSAM offers a number of compelling benefits in terms of security, IT management, and business. Security advantages from CSAM start with the framework’s ability to bolster security posture. Assuming it’s hard to defend what you can’t see, CSAM solves this problem by giving you improved visibility of all your digital assets. You have a better chance of enforcing security policies and keeping assets up to date, e.g., through patching, if you know what you have.

Operational efficiency is a further security benefit from CSAM. Security departments are chronically under-staffed and under-resourced. By automating asset discovery and security status tracking, CSAM makes the SecOps process more efficient. Security analysts will spend less time figuring out which systems are affected by a breach, for example. Incident response improves as a result. They’ll be more on top of patch management. Audits also become easier and less time consuming to conduct.

CSAM helps you detect shadow IT and shadow SaaS, as well. If employees are setting up SaaS apps without permission, a CSAM solution or SaaS security platform with CSAM capabilities will find them and flag them.

Businesswise, CSAM contributes to operational efficiency and potential cost savings. When IT managers can easily view a complete inventory of digital assets, they will be better able to negotiate licensing deals and hardware procurement with vendors. This benefit gets at the link between CSAM and IT asset management (ITAM), which deals with the financial side of IT assets.

How to Optimize Your Cybersecurity Asset Management Strategy

Best practices are emerging that help you optimize your cybersecurity asset management strategy. Most have to do with connecting CSAM with other systems and aligning with security frameworks. Highlights include:

Take an End-to-End Perspective, but Base Prioritization on Risk

Success with CSAM involves balancing a broad overview of CSAM with a risk-based prioritization. Ideally, CSAM will inventory all assets on a real-time basis. However, it is a good practice to allocate resources to assets that represent high-impact risk exposure.

For example, you’ll want to know about every mobile device your company owns. It’s smart, though, to reserve in-depth tracking of security configurations, identify known vulnerabilities, and manage patches for assets whose compromise could cause a major security incident. Some refer to this as risk-based asset classification. A database with sensitive information would be a good example of such an asset. Additionally, it’s wise to think outside of your organization when you define your digital assets. The cloud enables wide-ranging and flexible connections that can create cybersecurity assets out of thin air. For instance, a partner’s API may not officially be a digital asset you own, but it’s an asset that can affect your security. It’s a good idea to inventory it and track its security status.

Integrate CSAM Across Your Security Stack and SecOps

A CSAM solution has to integrate across the security stack and SecOps if it is to deliver on its potential for strong security posture. Its asset inventory feeds into other security tools. A vulnerability management system, for example, should match vulnerabilities with assets. If there’s a known vulnerability in a certain Linux kernel, then knowing where that kernel is operating will help you fix the problem precisely and completely. CSAM can also integrate with SIEMs, with the result that you can match log anomalies with specific assets.

Integrate CSAM with Your Configuration Management Databases (CMDB) 

CSAM and configuration management databases (CMDBs) go together. Most assets require configuration, so it makes sense to match up asset inventory with configuration data. Configuration tracking is certainly essential for SaaS security. Suridata, for example, enables you to monitor security configurations for all of your SaaS apps. It will flag insecure configurations for remediation.

Automate Everywhere You Can

CSAM works best with automation. The more you can automate its processes, the more benefit you’ll get from the framework. For example, it pays to automate policy enforcement and track enforcement status according to your asset inventory. Like, if you want strong passwords on all databases containing personal identifiable information (PII), then ideally you will have an automated process to keep track of whether that policy is being enforced on all such databases.

Automation can also be a big help if your organization has to comply with NIST framework. Otherwise, compliance can be a time-consuming resource drain that’s hard to audit. Automated CSAM expedites the process. The same goes for development of system security plans (SSPs) and plan of action and milestone (POA&M) management, both of which feature in government compliance regimens.

Making CSAM Work

Asset sprawl is a real problem, one that’s getting worse as enterprises embrace AI, SaaS, and the cloud. CSAM offers a way to get ahead of the security risks exposed by asset sprawl and the inevitable gaps in visibility that come with it. CSAM provides a range of benefits, including a better security posture, improved incident response, and stronger regulatory compliance. A CSAM solution does not work optimally on its own, however. It does best when integrated with the security stack and SecOps. Automation is essential for success, as well. Done right, CSAM makes the jobs of IT, security, and compliance teams easier while enabling them to be more effective.

To learn about Suridata’s SaaS asset tracking and configuration monitoring solutions, visit our website or book a demo.