EASM Discovery Paths: Critical Visibility Your Security Team Needs

In March 2025, a major retailer suffered a data breach when attackers exploited an abandoned API on a forgotten subdomain, as reported by Dark Reading. This incident underscores the critical need for comprehensive asset visibility.

Organizations are expanding their digital footprints rapidly, often unaware of exposed assets. External Attack Surface Management (EASM) discovery paths provide security teams with the visibility to uncover hidden risks before attackers exploit them.

What Is External Attack Surface Management (EASM)?

EASM proactively identifies, maps, and monitors internet-facing digital assets vulnerable to cyber threats, including domains, subdomains, IP addresses, cloud services, APIs, and third-party dependencies. By visualizing discovery paths, EASM tools deliver a clear, actionable view of an organization’s external attack surface, enabling proactive vulnerability mitigation

Understanding EASM Discovery Paths

EASM discovery paths are systematic methods to uncover and map an organization’s external attack surface, identifying vulnerabilities in the same way a hacker would. Starting with known assets, or “seeds” (e.g., domains like zerofox.com, IP ranges, or brand names), these paths trace connections to reveal hidden or unmonitored assets exposed online. The recursive process leverages public data sources like DNS records, SSL/TLS certificate logs, and cloud metadata to build a comprehensive inventory.

How EASM Discovery Paths Work

1. Initiating with Seeds: The process begins with known assets, such as a primary domain, IP range, or brand name, serving as the starting point for exploration.
2. Recursive Exploration: EASM tools employ advanced algorithms to crawl public data, identifying related assets like subdomains, IPs, or hosts. For example, a domain may lead to a subdomain, which resolves to an IP tied to a cloud service.
3. Mapping Connections: Tools trace relationships across assets, creating a network of first-, second-, and third-level connections. This reveals dependencies, such as a subdomain hosted on a third-party provider.
4. Continuous Monitoring: EASM tools dynamically update the inventory as the attack surface evolves, ensuring real-time visibility into new or decommissioned assets.

Types of Discovery Paths 

Real-World Example: Tracing a Discovery Path

Consider the seed “zerofox.com”:

1. The tool identifies subdomains like “app.zerofox.com” and “mail.zerofox.com” via DNS records.
2. “app.zerofox.com” resolves to an IP (e.g., 104.18.20.35), which hosts a web server.
3. The server reveals a previously unknown “test.zerofox.com.”
4. SSL certificate logs uncover “api.zerofox.com,” adding it to the inventory.
5. The process continues, identifying cloud services or third-party dependencies tied to the seed.

This approach ensures no internet-facing asset goes undetected—a critical capability, as 57% of organizations have faced API-related breaches in the past two years, per Akamai’s 2024 State of the Internet Report.

Why EASM Discovery Paths Are Critical for Your Security

EASM discovery paths are critical for securing an organization’s digital presence by continuously identifying, monitoring, and protecting internet-facing assets such as domains, IP addresses, cloud services, and applications. These discovery paths surface shadow IT, unmanaged cloud resources, and third-party integrations that often evade traditional security controls. They also detect risks like exposed APIs, open ports, misconfigured storage buckets, and expired or improperly configured SSL/TLS certificates.

By mapping how attackers could traverse external assets to reach critical systems, and by integrating with vulnerability scanners, EASM delivers context-rich insights that help prioritize remediation based on business risk. This continuous and proactive approach enhances visibility across the external attack surface, enabling security teams to reduce exposure and prevent potential breaches.

Common Misconceptions About EASM Discovery Paths

ZeroFox EASM: Empowering Security with Discovery Paths

ZeroFox’s EASM solution uses proprietary technology for comprehensive, continuous mapping, starting with prebuilt attack surfaces or customizable seeds. The Discovery Path feature provides:

• Visualize connections between assets
• Understand why a particular asset belongs to their organization
• Start targeted security investigations
• Access up-to-date inventory during data refreshes
• Quickly detect and exclude unwanted digital assets

ZeroFox customers typically discover 30-40% more assets within 30 days, reduce remediation time by 65%, and decrease incidents by 47%, based on ZeroFox’s 2025 Customer Success Metrics.

Take Control of Your Attack Surface with ZeroFox

A robust EASM strategy powered by discovery paths is essential for securing your digital footprint. ZeroFox’s EASM solution offers:

• Discover and inventory digital assets
• Visualize your external digital risk from one view
• Analyze and prioritize exposures and vulnerabilities
• Combat asset sprawl and shadow IT
• Reduce the risk of phishing and social engineering attacks
• Adhere to regulatory compliance requirements

Ready to Secure Your Digital Footprint?

Contact us today to request a free Attack Surface Assessment, schedule a demo to see ZeroFox EASM Discovery Paths in action, or download our 2025 Digital Risk Report to learn how leading organizations are managing their attack surfaces. ZeroFox External Attack Surface Management (EASM) gives you the visibility and control you need to stay ahead of evolving digital threats.