Process of identifying, tracking, and managing organisational assets throughout their lifecycle.
Asset management identifies, classifies, tracks, and manages assets throughout their lifecycle. For information security, this includes hardware (computers, servers, network equipment), software, data, and services. You can't protect what you don't know exists—asset inventory is foundational to security. Asset management supports vulnerability management (knowing what needs patching), access control (knowing what needs protection), and incident response (understanding what's affected).
Why It Matters
The DSC Perspective:
Asset management is security's foundation. Unknown assets can't be protected, patched, or monitored. Maintain accurate inventory and ensure security coverage extends to all assets.