Cybersecurity is a universal challenge, but for smaller businesses with restricted security budgets, the task of mitigating risks and swiftly addressing vulnerabilities becomes even more daunting. These organizations often lack the resources to invest in and sustain numerous security solutions, making it crucial to prioritize the most effective and adaptable tools.
For security teams tasked with protecting limited assets, the key lies in selecting approaches that are both cost-effective and scalable, meeting their specific, immediate needs.
When it comes to safeguarding their web-facing infrastructure, these teams have several options. They can opt for a Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) platform, such as Intruder.io, explore an all-encompassing suite like Pentest Tools, or leverage an external attack surface management (EASM) platform like Attaxion to gain a broader perspective of potential vulnerabilities.
Which Approach is Most Effective?
In this article, we explore these three strategies and their corresponding tools, examining the advantages and drawbacks of each to help you determine the best fit.
| Tool | Intruder.io | Attaxion | Pentest Tools |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform Type | DAST | EASM | Suite of Security Testing Tools |
| Price | From $153/month (Cloud plan) | From $129/month | From $85/month |
| Strengths | – Automated and continuous vulnerability scanning – Emerging threat detection – Integrates with popular tools and compliance platforms | – Comprehensive external asset discovery – Automated, round-the-clock attack surface monitoring – Utilizes multiple risk scoring systems to rank threats | – Customizable vulnerability scans – Wide range of tools, including exploit tools |
| Weaknesses | – Higher cost compared to some alternatives – Updating scan targets can be difficult due to licensing restrictions | – Fewer direct integrations with ticketing and messaging tools – Reports may lack customization compared to some competitors | – Limited automation in asset discovery – Basic prioritization – Limited integration options in lower tiers |
Vulnerability Management with Intruder.io
Vulnerability management is an ongoing process that involves identifying, evaluating, documenting, resolving, and tracking vulnerabilities to reduce potential risks.
While numerous solutions are available for vulnerability management, Intruder.io stands out as one of the most well-regarded platforms in the industry.
Launched in 2015, Intruder.io is a cloud-based platform that specializes in vulnerability scanning and management. It is designed to provide continuous monitoring and automated detection of security flaws across a wide range of digital assets, including internal infrastructure, external networks, web applications, and APIs.
Pricing
Intruder.io offers a variety of pricing plans to suit different needs: Essential, Cloud, Pro, and Enterprise. A 14-day free trial is available, but only for the Cloud tier.
- Essential Plan: At $99 per month, this plan offers basic monthly scans but is quite limited. It includes only one scheduled scan and lacks advanced features like asset discovery, internal scanning, and attack surface monitoring.
- Cloud Plan: Starting at $153 per month, the Cloud tier is the most basic plan that supports vulnerability management. It integrates with public cloud platforms to automatically pull asset lists, offering more comprehensive coverage.
- Pro Plan: Priced at $204 per month, the Pro plan adds support for internal systems, differentiating itself from the Cloud tier, but otherwise offers similar functionality.
Intruder.io provides businesses with a scalable, automated solution to stay ahead of emerging security threats while simplifying vulnerability management.
Source: https://www.intruder.io/pricing
Premium Features for Enterprise Users
Advanced capabilities, such as attack surface monitoring, new service scans, and subdomain discovery, are reserved for the Enterprise plan.
The cost of this plan is customized based on the unique needs and scale of each organization. Those interested should contact Intruder.io for a tailored quote.
Key Features
Asset Discovery
Intruder’s asset discovery features are primarily focused on cloud integrations for most plans and may not be as extensive as those offered by other platforms.
For Cloud and Pro plans, users can link their AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, and Cloudflare accounts. Intruder will automatically identify hostnames and IP addresses within these environments and add them as targets for vulnerability scanning.
For more comprehensive asset discovery, including subdomains, related domains, and APIs that fall outside of the cloud accounts, the Enterprise plan is required.
Vulnerability Scanning
At the heart of Intruder’s offering is its automated vulnerability scanning, which allows for continuous or scheduled scans to detect known security weaknesses.
Depending on the plan, users have access to different scanning tools, including OpenVAS, Nuclei, Tenable Nessus, and OWASP ZAP.
A key feature is the emerging threat scans, which proactively identify newly disclosed vulnerabilities that may affect your systems, helping to reduce the exposure window to potential attacks. However, this feature is available only with the Cloud, Pro, and Enterprise plans.
Vulnerability Assessment and Prioritization
Intruder enhances scan results with additional risk intelligence from reputable sources like the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) list and the Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS).
The platform also provides detailed descriptions of identified vulnerabilities along with actionable remediation steps to help users address security risks effectively and swiftly.
Source: https://help.intruder.io/en/articles/8282045-issues-page-explained
Integrations
Intruder supports seamless connections with a broad range of essential tools across development, collaboration, security, and ticketing platforms, available on all plans except the Essential tier. Below are the supported integrations:
- Slack
- Microsoft Teams
- GitHub
- GitLab
- ServiceNow
- Azure DevOps
- Zapier
- Okta
- AWS
- Google Cloud
- Azure
- Cloudflare
- Drata
- Vanta
- Microsoft Sentinel (Exclusive to Enterprise)
Security Assessment with Pentest Tools
Penetration testing (pentesting) serves as a proactive method to evaluate the security of a company’s digital infrastructure by simulating real-world cyberattacks.
Pentesters search for weaknesses in systems and exploit them using tactics identical to those employed by attackers. They utilize various tools, including commercial platforms like Pentest Tools, which streamline the process with automation, support, and advanced functionality.
Pentest Tools is an online platform that simplifies penetration testing and vulnerability assessments for security teams, reducing manual effort while improving efficiency.
Pricing
Pentest Tools offers five distinct pricing options: Free, Basic, Advanced, Teams, and Enterprise, each offering different levels of asset coverage and features.
Customers can choose between monthly or annual subscriptions, with a 15% discount for those who opt for an annual commitment.
All paid plans, except Free and Enterprise, come with a 10-day money-back guarantee, allowing users to test the service risk-free.
Source: https://pentest-tools.com/pricing
Key Features
Asset Discovery
Pentest Tools offers asset discovery capabilities, but it does not automatically monitor or take action on discovered assets in real-time.
Rather than continuous, automated scanning, users must initiate scans manually. While some automation options are available, setting them up requires additional configuration and effort.
To begin asset discovery, users must specify targets, such as IP addresses or domain names. Pentest Tools provides nine specialized scanning tools, each designed to carry out a specific reconnaissance function:
- Google Hacking
- Website Recon
- Web Application Firewall (WAF) Detection
- URL Fuzzing
- Domain Discovery
- Subdomain Discovery
- Port Scanning
- Virtual Host Discovery
The platform also enables users to create custom scan templates, which combine multiple tools into a single scan, streamlining the process.
Source: https://support.pentest-tools.com/scan-templates
Vulnerability Scanning
Pentest Tools enhances its discovery capabilities with 11 advanced vulnerability scanners and five exploit tools designed to identify security gaps in web applications, networks, and cloud infrastructures.
It features its own proprietary network scanner, which integrates popular open-source tools like OpenVAS, Sn1per, and Nuclei.
Users can configure automated robots for batch scanning, allowing multiple assets to be assessed simultaneously. However, it’s important to note that scan reports are generated individually per asset, rather than in bulk.
Vulnerability Assessment and Prioritization
After a scan, Pentest Tools generates a comprehensive list of findings, categorized by severity levels (high, medium, low, or informational) based on the CVSS score.
While the platform doesn’t offer custom prioritization settings, it does consider EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) data to reduce false positives. Users can manually adjust risk levels and provide explanations when reclassifying vulnerabilities, giving security teams the flexibility to fine-tune their assessments.
Integrations
Pentest Tools provides integration options only for its Teams and Enterprise plans. Lower-tier plans are limited to email notifications.
Paid subscribers can receive scan reports directly via email, while those on the Teams plan gain additional integration options, including Jira, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Discord, and webhooks.
Cloud environment integrations and compliance tools are also restricted to the Teams and Enterprise tiers.
External Attack Surface Management (EASM) with Attaxion
While vulnerability management and penetration testing focus on known assets within an organization’s infrastructure, they often have limited coverage, especially regarding unknown or unmanaged digital assets.
EASM, on the other hand, offers a comprehensive, external-facing approach to security. This method continuously identifies, monitors, and analyzes all internet-exposed assets, including shadow IT—those unknown or unsanctioned assets that could pose security risks.
One notable EASM solution is Attaxion, a cloud-based platform designed to give organizations of all sizes complete visibility, continuous monitoring, and automated control over their entire digital footprint that faces the internet.
Cost
Attaxion offers four pricing tiers: Starter ($129/month), Plus ($349/month), Business ($949/month), and Enterprise (custom pricing).
What sets Attaxion apart from other solutions is that all features are available across every pricing tier; the only variable cost is based on the number of assets managed.
Attaxion also provides a 30-day free trial with full access to all features, allowing users to evaluate the platform before committing. Annual subscribers enjoy two months of service for free.
Source: https://attaxion.com/pricing/
Key Features
Asset Discovery
Attaxion employs a range of cutting-edge cyber reconnaissance methods to automatically detect and catalog all externally visible assets, such as domains, subdomains, IP addresses, cloud resources, and even publicly exposed email addresses.
With its advanced asset discovery tools, Attaxion continuously uncovers previously unidentified assets, giving organizations visibility into their entire digital footprint.
The platform’s detailed asset mapping visually highlights the relationships and dependencies between assets, offering a clear and comprehensive view of the external attack surface and potential vulnerabilities that could be exploited.
Source: demo.attaxion.com
Vulnerability Scanning
Attaxion performs automatic scanning on all identified assets to detect known and emerging vulnerabilities, security weaknesses, and other potential risks.
Leveraging a variety of scanning techniques, including the renowned open-source OWASP ZAP for web application assessments, Attaxion also conducts port scanning and technology fingerprinting to build a complete security profile.
The platform provides both passive and active scanning modes, with the flexibility to switch between them based on the user’s preferences.
| Passive Scanning Methods | Active Scanning Methods |
|---|---|
| WHOIS Lookup | Vulnerability Scanner |
| Passive Subdomains Lookup | Web Crawler |
| Reverse DNS Lookup | Active Subdomains Scanner |
| Reverse WHOIS Lookup | SSL Lookup |
| IP Geolocation Lookup | Port Scanner |
| IP Netblocks Lookup | Screenshot Lookup |
| Cloud Providers Scanner | |
| DNS Lookup |
Vulnerability Assessment and Prioritization
Attaxion uses sophisticated risk prioritization to help security teams focus on the most urgent and exploitable vulnerabilities. It integrates various vulnerability scoring metrics, including CVSS, EPSS, and CISA KEV data, ensuring that critical threats are addressed first.
To accelerate remediation, the platform provides in-depth context and actionable recommendations for each identified security issue, making it easier for teams to resolve problems efficiently.
Integrations
Attaxion seamlessly integrates with existing workflows by offering compatibility with widely used tools like Slack and Jira for alerts and ticket management. It also synchronizes automatically with major cloud platforms, such as AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and DigitalOcean.
For Enterprise clients, custom integrations can be requested to better align with specific business needs and security requirements.
Intruder.io vs. Pentest Tools vs. Attaxion: Which One Fits Your Needs?
The decision to choose between Intruder.io, Pentest Tools, and Attaxion hinges on the unique security needs and goals of your organization.
- Intruder.io focuses heavily on vulnerability management with its automated, continuous scanning system. It’s a cloud-based platform known for its ease of use and seamless integration with other tools. However, it is the most expensive option among the three, and its asset discovery capabilities on lower-tier plans are restricted to cloud sync (with the exception of the Essential plan, which lacks any asset discovery features altogether).
- Pentest Tools provides an extensive suite of penetration testing tools, making it an excellent choice for teams that need to carry out detailed security assessments. It offers customizable scans and a wide range of testing tools. The pricing is competitive, but users should expect to put in more manual effort, particularly with asset discovery, and its automation features aren’t as simple to use as those in Intruder.io or Attaxion. As the name suggests, Pentest Tools is geared toward red teams and in-depth penetration testing.
- Attaxion stands apart with its External Attack Surface Management (EASM) approach, offering comprehensive monitoring and discovery of an organization’s entire external-facing digital presence, including assets that might not be previously known. It excels in asset discovery and risk prioritization, providing a broader perspective on external threats. While its reporting capabilities may be less customizable than those of Pentest Tools, Attaxion’s strength lies in its ability to continuously monitor the attack surface at an attractive price point.
For larger organizations with ample resources, using all three tools together could prove valuable, as they each offer unique benefits: Attaxion specializes in asset discovery, Intruder.io shines with its intuitive interface and reporting features, while Pentest Tools is ideal for red teaming and penetration testing.
However, for smaller teams or those on tight budgets, it’s usually necessary to choose just one tool. In this case, for continuous monitoring and proactive threat identification across an organization’s external attack surface, Attaxion is the best option. Its powerful asset discovery, ongoing vulnerability scanning, and solid risk prioritization make it an ideal choice for maintaining a robust security posture.
