Asset Inventory Management

What Is Asset Inventory Management? 

Asset inventory management is the process that catalogs, tracks, maintains, and manages an organization’s hardware, software, and network-connected devices. For cybersecurity professionals, it’s crucial to know everything on your network – including specialized devices. 

Inventory tracking of devices includes traditional IT hardware like laptops and routers, as well as IoT devices (IP cameras, printers, etc.), OT/ICS devices (sensors, actuators, PLCs, etc.), and IoMT devices (MRI machines, infusion pumps, etc.). Even unmanaged devices fall under the asset inventory umbrella, as do virtual assets, such as software and cloud-based servers.  

When you inventory your assets effectively, you gain real-time insights into your entire organization’s infrastructure. Both IT and security teams do so to proactively identify threat exposure, manage and mitigate risk, ensure compliance, and gain operational efficiency – often with asset management software and hardware designed to make all networked devices visible. 

Note: In manufacturing verticals and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO), asset tracking and inventory management are a different topic with similar terms as those in this definition. In these environments, tracking and ordering parts, using barcodes and barcode scanners, and other maintenance tasks are common practices.  

Here, we are discussing network inventory and devices in a cybersecurity context. 

 

What Type of Information Resides in an Asset Inventory? 

in late 2024, the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) highlighted the need to have comprehensive information about assets within a well-planned inventory system. According to ENISA, relevant entities must develop and maintain a complete, accurate, up-to-date, and consistent inventory of their assets. They shall record changes to the entries in the inventory in a traceable manner, regularly review and update the inventory and their assets, and document the history of changes.ⁱ 

A comprehensive asset inventory includes a wide span of data and information, particularly for organizations that have many different device types. Information within an asset inventory often includes the following: 

• Asset Identifier: A unique identifier. Physical assets in OT and IoMT environments often have their own specific asset tags. 
• Asset Description: Detailed description of the asset, including its type, purpose, and location within the system. 
• Asset Classification: Information on the criticality and function. 
• Asset Owner: The individual or department responsible for maintaining, managing, and securing the asset. 
• Asset Location: Where the asset is located, in detail. 
• Hardware Information: For physical assets, this includes hardware specifications such as make, model, serial number, and configuration details. 
• Software/Firmware Information: This includes the software and/or firmware installed on an asset, including any updates or patches received. 
• Connection Details: Thes describe how the asset is connected to the network, including IP addresses, ports, and communication protocols. 
• Vendor Information: Details about the manufacturer or vendor of an asset. 
• Maintenance Schedule: A record of scheduled maintenance, including who is responsible and when to perform it. 
• Life Cycle Information: Each asset has an expected lifespan with schedules for retiring, replacing, and/or upgrading it. 
• Security Controls: Details of the security measures in place to protect the asset, including access controls, authentication methods, and encryption. 
• Vulnerability Assessment: Records of vulnerability assessments and security scans specific to the asset. 
• Incident History: Information regarding any previous incidents, breaches, or malfunctions associated with the asset. 
• Compliance and Regulatory Data: Documentation of compliance with industry-specific regulations, standards, and best practices. 
• Dependencies: Identification of any dependencies on other assets or systems that may impact the asset’s functionality. 
• Backup and Recovery Procedures: Details on how data and configurations are backed up and the procedures for restoring the asset in case of failure. 
• Change Management: Documentation of any changes, modifications, or upgrades made to the asset, including change approvals and testing. 
• Documentation and Manuals: Access to relevant manuals, documentation, and operating instructions for the asset. 
• Emergency Response Plan: Procedures for responding to emergencies or incidents involving the asset. 
• Inventory Date: The date when the asset inventory was last updated or reviewed. 

 

Why Is Asset Inventory Management Critical for Cybersecurity? 

Today’s management processes have moved well beyond spreadsheets and manual asset tracking. Organizations are modernizing and expanding the hardware- and software-based tools they use to accomplish their missions. Tracking inventory is part of the equation. 

New applications, devices, and entire systems face an evolving cyber threat landscape. The once-controllable attack surface of an enterprise is now difficult to define, leading to new security gaps that would be nearly impossible to identify without a modern asset inventory management system and process. This is a massive risk for any organization, but especially risky for those that rely on critical infrastructure to deliver valuable services that keep the public safe. 

“Asset Management also assists agencies in creating and maintaining approved device and software inventory lists and keeping software versions updated. This capability allows agencies to comply with their organizational security policies and aids in incident-response activities.”ⁱⁱ – National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 

As the above inventory list and statement from NIST indicate, having robust asset inventory management vastly improves your cybersecurity stance in several ways. You improve: 

• Visibility and Control: Visibility into all assets enables you to identify potential security gaps and address vulnerabilities before they are exploited. 
• Compliance and Governance: Accurate asset inventories translate into improvements in meeting regulatory requirements, thanks to a better understanding of where your sensitive data resides. 
• Risk Management: With asset inventory management, you can assign risk profiles to each asset and prioritize remediation efforts based on how critical each is to your operations and organizational goals. 

 

Why Is Real-Time Asset Inventory Management Better? 

Threat actors can rapidly exploit gaps in the attack surface and steal valuable information, or cause operations to fail. When an organization puts in place real-time capabilities for asset inventory management, they can: 

• Continuously discover assets: When your organization changes assets or adds new ones, having a system in place that ensures up-to-date information is captured for every device and application touching the enterprise network proves invaluable. 
• Assess risks as they evolve: Asset tracking enables you to rapidly assess security posture, so that you can prioritize critical assets and vulnerabilities. 
• Mitigate threats: A system designed for real-time information, including asset management software, can more quickly detect and respond to anomalous behavior on the network, optimizing your ability to respond to cyber threats or attacks. 
• Make audits easier: Staying up to date about everything on the network will make it easier to comply with all the many different kind of security and other regulatory audits needed in IT and specific-industries. 

 

How to Get Started with Asset Inventory Management 

Having a robust asset inventory can seem daunting. However, modern tools designed to identify all the things that connect to your network can bring you far down the path to quickly establishing a robust security posture using inventory management. The right solution should allow you to do the following: 

• Discover all your network-connected assets: The solution should automatically discover, assess, and continuously track all physical devices, software, virtual machines, and anything else touching your network. 
• Integrate easily into existing security infrastructure: The solution or tool should allow you to easily integrate workflows and continue using all the platforms and tools already delivering value to your security operations. 
• Monitor continuously: The right solution should ensure continuous monitoring to detect any changes in your asset inventory and to identify potential security threats immediately. 
• Respond to exposure, threats, and attacks: Your solution should deliver automation to ensure compliance with your security policies, such as tracking software licenses and assessing the impact of new technology. 
• Audit-readiness: Your solution should make it easier to automate your audits and reduce the time-consuming aspects of compliance. 

 

How Forescout Helps with Asset Inventory Management 

The Forescout 4D Platform™ incorporates the most modern IT asset management capabilities to protect and ensure the compliance of all managed and unmanaged assets – IT, IoT, IoMT and OT/ICS. Leveraging continuous, automated discovery, classification, and assessment of every device touching your network, Forescout eliminates error-prone manual processes. 

To support informed security decisions, the Forescout Platform collects data on device type, manufacturer, OS configuration, applications installed, patch state, network location, logged-in users, vulnerabilities, criticality, and what it’s communicating with. The solution continuously synchronizes this data with your configuration management database (CMDB), giving your IT and security teams the wealth of contextual information they need – in real time – to respond fast and mitigate risk. 

• Complete Visibility: Discover all managed and unmanaged devices upon connect, leveraging techniques tailored specifically IT, IoT, OT and IoMT assets as well as cyber-physical systems. 
• 150+ Classification Attributes: Automatically classify assets based on 150+ attributes that are then referenced for asset compliance, network access control, segmentation and incident response. 
• 30+ Assessment Techniques: Continuously assess compliance posture for all asset types using a blend of 30+ active and passive techniques that rely on traffic monitoring, scanning, third-party integrations and traditional agents. 
• Historical Asset Timeline: Query, investigate and analyze connected asset data across a 90-day timeline to prove historical compliance, support incident investigation and identify risks and gaps.  

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[i] ENISA (2024). Implementing Guidance On Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690 for the application of Directive (EU) 2022/2555 as regards technical and methodological requirements of cybersecurity risk-management measures, October 17, 2024. Accessed online March 12, 2025 from the following source: https://www.enisa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2024-11/Implementation%20guidance%20on%20security%20measures_FOR%20PUBLIC%20CONSULTATION.pdf

[ii] NIST, NIST SPECIAL PUBLICATION 1800-5, IT Asset Management, September 2018.