External Attack Surface Management (EASM) tools and attackers use similar techniques: the same discovery methods that map your internet-facing assets also surface the routes an attacker could take in. By mapping your external attack surface to MITRE tactics, especially the early recon stage, you’ll have a clear view of how adversaries might actually find their way in.
The Forgotten Stage: Reconnaissance
When security teams talk MITRE ATT&CK, most of the attention goes to mid- and late-stage techniques: lateral movement, persistence, exfiltration. The Reconnaissance stage is often overlooked or simply hard to detect.
But attackers don’t overlook it. Recon is where every campaign begins. Enumerating domains, mapping DNS records, reusing SSL/TLS certs, and probing web apps are the building blocks of an attack.
MITRE ATT&CK has become a standard in cybersecurity. It’s how analysts communicate risk, it’s how regulators reference threats, and it’s how boards increasingly expect CISOs to frame conversations.
But there’s a gap: ATT&CK describes adversary behaviors that typically occur outside the environments that organizations monitor. It doesn’t explain how to observe them in your own environment. Bridging that gap means mapping your external attack surface to MITRE tactics, especially the early recon stage.
Seeing Recon the Way Attackers Do
Most security tools don’t give you visibility into recon:
- Vulnerability scanners show you patching gaps
- SIEMs track events
- EDRs hunt in endpoints
- “Firewalls provide gateway protection for data in or out of the organization”
These are all useful, but none of them tell you what an attacker can learn about you from the outside. That’s the gap ThingsRecon set out to close.
Let’s put this in concrete terms. Under MITRE ATT&CK’s Recon tactics, attackers may:
- Enumerate domains and DNS records → to find forgotten subdomains.
- Analyze TLS/SSL certificates → to spot shared infrastructure.
- Probe web apps and scripts → to uncover weak integrations.
- Scan IP ranges → to identify exposed services.
- Track redirects or dependencies → to map your digital mesh.
Every one of these techniques leaves a footprint. And every footprint tells a story of exposure.
Turning Mapping into Defense
Discovery is only step one. The practitioner’s real challenge is to translate recon data into action. Here’s how:
- Prioritize by Context
Don’t just rank vulnerabilities by CVSS. Weight them by proximity to critical systems and their potential for pivoting.
- Model Threat Paths
Map how an attacker could chain one exposed service to another — from forgotten staging sites to production logins.
- Automate Early Detection
Use AI-driven discovery to catch new domains, certificates, and scripts as soon as they emerge.
- Continuously Monitor
Recon isn’t a one-off exercise. Attackers keep probing. Your visibility has to be just as continuous.
Closing Thoughts
MITRE ATT&CK is more than a reference chart. It’s a mirror showing how adversaries think and operate. By mapping your external attack surface to MITRE’s Recon tactics, you’re no longer chasing alerts after the fact. You’re anticipating the pathways adversaries might take.
Risk without context is just a number. With ThingsRecon, recon becomes context thanks to:
- Agentless, non-intrusive scanning: No installation needed to see what attackers see.
- Digital ProximityTM (Patent Pending): Our proprietary measurement shows how close a risk really is to your critical business systems.
- Supply chain breath: We don’t stop at your perimeter; we map how your suppliers’ assets connect back to you.
- Regulatory readiness: NIS2, DORA, SEC... each directive expects you to understand and report your external exposure. We help you get there.
