EXTERNAL CYBERSECURITY BECOMES CONTROLLABLE

ATTACK SURFACES ARE GROWING, SECURITY WORKFLOWS ARE LACKING

Companies today face the challenge of knowing their external attack surfaces in the first place. New domains, cloud services, test systems or forgotten legacy systems are often operated without centralised control – and therefore remain invisible. A complete inventory of externally exposed IT assets simply does not exist in many organisations.

This lack of transparency creates a breeding ground for security vulnerabilities: What is not known cannot be protected. Attackers, on the other hand, find such unattended systems in a targeted manner – often automatically.

Even if external risks are recognised, there is often a lack of established workflows to systematically assess and process them. Without clear responsibilities, prioritisation and documented processes, alerts come to nothing. Security remains reactive – instead of being part of a controllable, traceable workflow.

EXTERNAL RISKS WITH GRAYDAXE

Graydaxe was developed to address precisely this issue: The platform recognises external cyber risks in real time – continuously and automatically. Systems that are accessible via the internet, such as cloud resources, outdated servers, test environments or undocumented services, are reliably identified and classified based on risk.

This not only provides a complete overview of all externally exposed assets, but also a clear risk assessment for each individual element – including IP, port, vulnerability and severity.
Graydaxe thus creates the transition from selective detection to continuous control – and makes external security permanently controllable for the first time. Graydaxe has a modular structure: Each module addresses a specific use case in dealing with external threats – from classic attack surface management and the detection of brand misuse to the evaluation of vulnerabilities and data leaks. Companies can use the modules that best suit their risk profile and processes.

GRAYDAXE INTEGRATES CYBER RISKS DIRECTLY INTO POLARION

Recognised risks alone are not enough – they must also be embedded in existing processes in a controllable way. This is precisely where the integration of Graydaxe into Polarion comes in. Each identified risk is automatically transferred to Polarion as an alert and created there as a work item – including all relevant information such as IP address, port, vulnerability identification (CVE), severity and recommended measures.

The connection is made via the Polarion REST API. Graydaxe uses this interface to create new risks directly as structured objects and keep them up to date in both systems in the event of status changes. This ensures that information such as risk status, assignment or classification always remains synchronised – both in Polarion and in the Graydaxe console.

Within Polarion, these risks can be prioritised, responsibilities assigned and processed as part of existing workflows. This links the technical risk situation with the real processes in the product life cycle – without media disruptions or additional tools. Polarion dashboards visualise the status, origin and development of risks in real time. Interactive filters enable targeted analyses and support teams and management in making well-founded decisions.

Overview of all recognised risks in the Graydaxe project in Polarion.

Every risk identified by Graydaxe is automatically transmitted as an alert and created as a work item in a dedicated Polarion project. The central risk overview shows status, severity, priority and assignment – fully integrated into existing workflows.

Interactive security dashboard with drill-down functions in Polarion.

The integrated dashboard shows all Graydaxe risks in a dynamic visualisation – including filters by risk type, source, port or severity. Diagrams and tables enable targeted evaluation, trend analysis and prioritisation directly in the PLM system – completely interactive and transparent for all project participants.

ADDED VALUE THROUGH INTEGRATION

The integration of Graydaxe into Polarion brings far more than just technical convenience – it anchors external cybersecurity directly in a structured workflow system. Risks are not managed in isolation in a separate tool but are visualised where decisions are made and measures are managed: in Polarion.

Direct assignment of work items creates clear responsibilities and traceable processes. Teams know anytime which risks exist, who is responsible, and the status of processing. This makes the safety process measurable, documentable – and auditable.

At the same time, companies benefit from consolidated data flows. Instead of parallel systems with manual reconciliation, information is synchronised automatically. Status changes in Graydaxe or Polarion are reflected in each other – without media disruptions or loss of time.
Reporting also benefits: management and specialist departments have access to consolidated risk overviews directly in the Polarion dashboard. This makes external security a consistent component in the digital product life cycle – traceable, scalable and controllable.

André Beran, July 2025