Understanding Reachability Analysis in Application Security and ASPM: Methods, Impact, and Real-World Applications a webinar with James Berthoty

ASPM Reachability Analysis James Berthoty

I had the pleasure of hosting a dynamic webinar with one of the rising stars in ASPM and application security, James Berthoty, founder of Latio tech. We discussed the need to prioritize vulnerabilities and how to tackle this issue with reachability analysis. Mixing Threat intelligence like EPSS, Reachability analysis, exploitation evidence, and network is a key strategy for Application Security Posture Management (ASPM), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP), and vulnerability management. 

For more research and details on the subject:

In this blog, we’ll discuss the types of reachability analysis, how Phoenix Security applies these methods, and how tools like network maps and threat intelligence contribute to a robust strategy.

Salient Moments in the Webinar

What is Reachability Analysis, and how can it be benefitted using ASPM?

reachability analysis, vulnerability prioritization, vulnerability management, application security

Reachability analysis helps organizations sift through endless vulnerability lists by analyzing the paths a potential exploit could take. Rather than overwhelming security teams with every theoretical risk, reachability analysis identifies vulnerabilities attackers can exploit in the production environment.

Reachability analysis comes in two main forms: Code and Network Reachability.

aspm, reachability analysis types vulnerability prioritization, vulnerability management, application security, phoenix security

  • 1 ->2 . Static Reachability Analysis: This evaluation evaluates the codebase and libraries to detect vulnerabilities that functions or processes could call.
  • 4 Runtime Reachability Analysis: Looks at what is executed or loaded in the application environment, providing a more accurate picture of exploitable vulnerabilities.

Other Elements that influence reachability analysis (3) are CTI and exploitability of the vulnerability.

How Libraries Go to Production: different types of reach hints to Phoenix Security ASPM


Each library and package undergoes checks as applications move from code to production. Here’s how Phoenix Security applies different reachability methods:

1. Static Reachability in Development: This stage identifies vulnerabilities within libraries and functions before they ever run. For instance, if a vulnerable library is imported but not used, static reach may flag it for removal, reducing potential attack paths.

2. Runtime Reachability in Production: Once the code is live, runtime reach analysis helps identify the exploitable vulnerabilities in the active environment. If a library is only running in non-production environments, it’s deprioritized. This dynamic approach reduces false positives and focuses remediation efforts where needed.

3. Combining Threat Intelligence and Network Maps with Reachability Analysis: Phoenix Security takes reachability analysis further by integrating it with threat intelligence (data on known exploits) and network maps. For instance, if a vulnerability in a library is flagged, Phoenix uses network reach analysis to check if the affected area can be accessed from an external network. If combined with threat intelligence showing active exploitation, this vulnerability would be prioritized above others.

aspm, reachability analysis, vulnerability prioritization, container security, phoenix security

The Power of Combining Reachability and Prioritization with ASPM

Reachability analysis isn’t just about detection; it’s about setting remediation priorities. Phoenix Security applies reachability to drive actionable insights through three main prioritization methods:

1. Network reach: This determines whether an internal or external network could access a vulnerable component. Network reachability helps security teams prioritize external-facing risks over internal ones by focusing on vulnerabilities exposed to the outside world.

2. Environmental Context for Dynamic Prioritization: Environmental factors like cloud versus on-premises or containerized setups influence reachability. For example, a vulnerability in a container running an ephemeral service could be deprioritized compared to a long-lived production container.

3. Threat Intelligence Layering: Combining reachability with threat intelligence provides context, allowing teams to understand if a particular vulnerability has known exploits in the wild. Vulnerabilities that are reachable and actively exploited receive higher priority than lower-risk issues.

Container Versioning and focusing on images that get deployed; not all the images

Container Image Throttling: Focusing on Deployed Images

Container image throttling is essential for streamlining security in environments where container proliferation is high, and scanning everything would be inefficient. The key to effective image throttling is to prioritize scans for container images that are actively deployed and powering running instances, rather than scanning every image stored in a registry. This targeted approach aligns with modern security practices, where efficiency and noise reduction are paramount.

Linking Active Containers to Deployed Images

The main idea behind container image throttling is to link active containers directly to their deployed images. By monitoring the images that are actually running in the production environment, security teams can focus on vulnerabilities with potential real-world impact. This tactic reduces false positives and deprioritizes vulnerabilities that would only impact non-running or archived images, giving teams a more accurate security assessment of the live production environment.

Limiting Noise in Container Scanning

Scanning all container images—whether or not they’re deployed—can lead to overwhelming results, most of which may not be immediately relevant to the production environment. Throttling scans to include only images linked to active containers cuts down on this noise, allowing security teams to focus remediation efforts on vulnerabilities affecting actively running services.

Key Takeaways: Why all this matters in vulnerability prioritization

Reachability analysis enables security teams to streamline their focus by narrowing down on vulnerabilities that truly matter. The approach goes beyond simple vulnerability scanning by combining real-world usage data, network accessibility, and threat intelligence, turning a reactive approach into a proactive defense mechanism.

Wrapping Up

Reachability analysis, particularly when combined with threat intelligence and network insights, allows security teams to be super-efficient in vulnerability management and zero in on high-risk vulnerabilities without drowning in false positives. Phoenix Security’s code-to-cloud visibility is a prime example of how ASPM and CNAPP solutions are revolutionizing vulnerability management. For organizations looking to build a robust security posture, incorporating these advanced forms of reachability analysis is no longer a luxury but a necessity.

Would you like more in-depth coverage of the specific reachability methods or any further keyword integration?

risk based prioritization, phoenix security

Minimize the vulnerability risk and act on the vulnerabilities that matter most, combining ASPM, EPSS, and reachability analysis.

attack graph phoenix security
ASPM

Organizations often face an overwhelming volume of security alerts, including false positives and duplicate vulnerabilities, which can distract from real threats. Traditional tools may overwhelm engineers with lengthy, misaligned lists that fail to reflect business objectives or the risk tolerance of product owners.

Phoenix Security offers a transformative solution through its Actionable Application Security Posture Management (ASPM), powered by AI-based Contextual Quantitative analysis. This innovative approach correlates runtime data, combines it with EPSS and other threat intelligence, and applies the right risk to code and cloud, delivering a prioritized list of vulnerabilities.

Why do people talk about Phoenix Security ASPM?

Automated Triage: Phoenix streamlines the triage process using a customizable 4D risk formula, ensuring critical vulnerabilities are addressed promptly by the right teams.

Actionable Threat Intelligence: Phoenix provides real-time insights into vulnerabilities’ exploitability, leveraging EPS and combining runtime threat intelligence with application security data for precise risk mitigation.

Phoenix Security Reachability analysis

• Contextual Deduplication with reachability analysis: Utilizing canary token-based traceability for network reachability and static and dynamic runtime reachability, Phoenix accurately deduplicates and tracks vulnerabilities within application code and deployment environments, allowing teams to concentrate on genuine threats.

EPSS Phoenix Reachability analysis in ASPM, vulnerability management, application security
Phoenix Security Reachability analysis in containers with EPSS

By leveraging Phoenix Security, you not only unravel the potential threats but also take a significant stride in vulnerability management, ensuring your application security remains current and focuses on the key vulnerabilities.

Get a demo with your data, test Reachability Analysis and ASPM

Francesco is an internationally renowned public speaker, with multiple interviews in high-profile publications (eg. Forbes), and an author of numerous books and articles, who utilises his platform to evangelize the importance of Cloud security and cutting-edge technologies on a global scale.

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Derek

Derek Fisher

Head of product security at a global fintech

Derek Fisher – Head of product security at a global fintech. Speaker, instructor, and author in application security.

Derek is an award winning author of a children’s book series in cybersecurity as well as the author of “The Application Security Handbook.” He is a university instructor at Temple University where he teaches software development security to undergraduate and graduate students. He is a speaker on topics in the cybersecurity space and has led teams, large and small, at organizations in the healthcare and financial industries. He has built and matured information security teams as well as implemented organizational information security strategies to reduce the organizations risk.

Derek got his start in the hardware engineering space where he learned about designing circuits and building assemblies for commercial and military applications. He later pursued a computer science degree in order to advance a career in software development. This is where Derek was introduced to cybersecurity and soon caught the bug. He found a mentor to help him grow in cybersecurity and then pursued a graduate degree in the subject.

Since then Derek has worked in the product security space as an architect and leader. He has led teams to deliver more secure software in organizations from multiple industries. His focus has been to raise the security awareness of the engineering organization while maintaining a practice of secure code development, delivery, and operations.

In his role, Jeevan handles a range of tasks, from architecting security solutions to collaborating with Engineering Leadership to address security vulnerabilities at scale and embed security into the fabric of the organization.

Jeevan Singh

Jeevan Singh

Founder of Manicode Security

Jeevan Singh is the Director of Security Engineering at Rippling, with a background spanning various Engineering and Security leadership roles over the course of his career. He’s dedicated to the integration of security practices into software development, working to create a security-aware culture within organizations and imparting security best practices to the team.
In his role, Jeevan handles a range of tasks, from architecting security solutions to collaborating with Engineering Leadership to address security vulnerabilities at scale and embed security into the fabric of the organization.

James

James Berthoty

Founder of Latio Tech

James Berthoty has over ten years of experience across product and security domains. He founded Latio Tech to help companies find the right security tools for their needs without vendor bias.

christophe

Christophe Parisel

Senior Cloud Security Architect

Senior Cloud Security Architect

Chris

Chris Romeo

Co-Founder
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Chris Romeo is a leading voice and thinker in application security, threat modeling, and security champions and the CEO of Devici and General Partner at Kerr Ventures. Chris hosts the award-winning “Application Security Podcast,” “The Security Table,” and “The Threat Modeling Podcast” and is a highly rated industry speaker and trainer, featured at the RSA Conference, the AppSec Village @ DefCon, OWASP Global AppSec, ISC2 Security Congress, InfoSec World and All Day DevOps. Chris founded Security Journey, a security education company, leading to an exit in 2022. Chris was the Chief Security Advocate at Cisco, spreading security knowledge through education and champion programs. Chris has twenty-six years of security experience, holding positions across the gamut, including application security, security engineering, incident response, and various Executive roles. Chris holds the CISSP and CSSLP certifications.

jim

Jim Manico

Founder of Manicode Security

Jim Manico is the founder of Manicode Security, where he trains software developers on secure coding and security engineering. Jim is also the founder of Brakeman Security, Inc. and an investor/advisor for Signal Sciences. He is the author of Iron-Clad Java: Building Secure Web Applications (McGraw-Hill), a frequent speaker on secure software practices, and a member of the JavaOne Rockstar speaker community. Jim is also a volunteer for and former board member of the OWASP foundation.

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