What is Continuous Asset Management?
Continuous Asset Management is the process of being able to continually, and in real-time, have a comprehensive inventory of IT assets. This includes knowledge of where data is located and what systems are in place for an organization.
Continuous Asset Management and CIS 18 controls
Continuous Asset Management is at the foundation of the CIS 18 controls. The first two controls are:
- Inventory and Control of Hardware Assets — Actively manage (inventory, track, and correct) all hardware devices on the network so that only authorized devices are given access, and unauthorized and unmanaged devices are found and prevented from gaining access.
- Inventory and Control of Software Assets — Actively manage (inventory, track, and correct) all software on the network so that only authorized software is installed and can execute, and that unauthorized and unmanaged software is found and prevented from installation or execution.
The Challenges of Continuous Asset Management
Gathering a comprehensive inventory of all assets is a notoriously tricky task. And with complexity continuing to increase in IT and cybersecurity, it’s not getting any easier. Traditional manual processes are tedious, time-consuming, and error-prone — and once an inventory is compiled, it’s already outdated. (Interested in automating asset inventory? See how Axonius can help.)
Plus, in addition to continuously managing and securing all IT assets, there are other endpoints that can increase an organization’s cyber attack surface that must also be monitored. Those endpoints include:
- Cloud and SaaS
- Virtual environments
- Mobile devices
- IoT devices
Solving the Continuous Asset Management Problem
Continuous asset management may not be easy — but there’s a way to simplify it.
The approach? Aggregate data from all your existing IT and security tools, correlate the data, and present a view of what’s managed and unmanaged, where security gaps exist, and more.
Learn how the Axonius solution does just that.