Source: Help Net Security
Author: Mirko Zorz
URL: https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2025/05/22/tim-grieveson-thingsrecon-asset-inventory-gaps/
ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY: Tim Grieveson emphasizes ongoing automated asset discovery, cross-functional collaboration, addressing overlooked blind spots, and context-driven risk prioritization.
MAIN POINTS:
- Asset inventory should be ongoing, automated, and integrated with business context, not a one-time project.
- Communicating inventory issues openly with stakeholders is crucial for managing associated risks.
- Leveraging existing endpoint agents, cloud providers, DNS records, and procurement systems enhances initial visibility.
- Implementing dedicated continuous discovery tools significantly improves security visibility and asset context.
- Clearly defining inventory scope and categorizing assets prevents critical elements from being overlooked.
- Asset inventory requires collaboration across security, IT operations, development, network, and business teams.
- Biggest blind spot is relying solely on documentation without validating actual live assets.
- Commonly overlooked assets include subdomains, public APIs, third-party integrations, and misconfigured DNS services.
- Asset discovery must integrate closely with vulnerability management, threat detection, and CMDB systems.
- Contextual information (exposure, business-criticality, usage) is essential for accurate asset risk prioritization.
TAKEAWAYS:
- Shift asset inventory mindset from periodic audits to continuous, automated discovery.
- Build cross-functional teams to maintain comprehensive asset visibility across organizational silos.
- Regularly validate documented assets against actual infrastructure to prevent blind spots.
- Expand discovery to external, third-party, and edge assets beyond traditional network boundaries.
- Prioritize risk based on asset exposure, criticality, and business context rather than just severity scores.