Discover Asset Inventory
The asset inventory gives you a single view of all assets that CSAM (CyberSecurity Asset Management) discovers and manages. It brings together asset data from active scans, agents, and network discovery into one central inventory.
Navigate to: Inventory
CSAM discovers and classifies assets across your environment, so you see your attack surface as it changes. Every asset discovered by CSAM is cataloged, whether it is actively scanned, passively discovered, or reported by an agent. You can search and manage these assets from a centralized inventory. Depending on the available discovery and assessment data, asset records may also include associated vulnerability and risk information.
Use this to
- See every asset that CSAM discovers in your environment.
- Check which asset types and discovery sources are covered.
- Follow the discovery workflow, from connecting sources to keeping the inventory current.
- Pick the Inventory view that matches what you need.
Before you begin: Asset inventory data comes from CSAM. Make sure your CSAM subscription is active and that at least one discovery source, such as a scan, a Cloud Agent, or a connector, is reporting assets.
Key Features
The asset inventory gives you:
- One place for all assets — the main source for every asset CSAM discovers across your environment.
- Real-time detection — new assets show up as soon as scans and monitoring find them.
- Security-based grouping — assets are grouped by security traits, vulnerabilities, and risk.
- Search — find assets by IP address, hostname, operating system, and security attributes.
- Link to findings — go from each asset to its security findings and fix priorities.
Supported Asset Types
CSAM discovery adds these asset types to the inventory:
| Asset type | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Network Hosts | Physical and virtual machines found through network scans. |
| IP Assets | Network endpoints and devices found through active network discovery. |
| Cloud Instances | Cloud compute resources found through cloud connectors. |
| Software Assets | Applications, packages, and components found during scans. |
| Web Applications | Web services and applications found through WAS (Web Application Scanning) discovery. |
| Network Services | Services running on discovered ports. |
| Certificates | SSL/TLS certificates found on network assets. |
Asset Discovery Sources
The inventory includes assets found through each of these CSAM discovery methods:
- Active Scanning — assets found through authenticated and unauthenticated vulnerability scans.
- Agent-Based Discovery — assets reported by Qualys Cloud Agents installed on endpoints.
- Network Discovery — assets found through passive network monitoring and mapping.
- Cloud Connectors — cloud assets found through built-in cloud platform integrations.
- External Integrations — assets imported from CMDB systems or third-party scanning tools.
Asset Discovery Workflow
This workflow shows how an asset moves from a discovery source into your inventory, and what you do at each stage.
Connect sources > Discover > Identify and merge > Classify > Explore > Assess risk > Keep current
| Stage | What happens | What you do | Where to go |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Connect sources | You set up the sources that report assets, such as scanners, Cloud Agents, cloud connectors, and third-party tools. | Connect the sources you need and make sure each one is active. | Connect and Onboard Data |
| 2. Discover | CSAM collects asset data from each source and adds new assets to the inventory. | Check that the assets you expect appear in the inventory. | View Asset Inventory |
| 3. Identify and merge | When more than one source reports the same asset, identification rules match the records and merge them into one asset. | Review the identification rules and check merged assets. | Identify Duplicate Assets Merge Duplicate Assets |
| 4. Classify | Assets get business context through tags and criticality. | Add tags, set asset criticality, and link tags to business entities. | Identify and Classify Assets |
| 5. Explore | Discovered assets are available in the Inventory views. | Use the view that matches your task, such as Software, Certificates, or Open Ports. | Discovery Views |
| 6. Assess risk | ETM links each asset to its findings and calculates its TruRisk™ Score. | Sort and filter by criticality and TruRisk™ Score to decide what to fix first. | View Asset Inventory |
| 7. Keep current | Purge rules remove asset records that are stale or no longer needed. | Confirm that an asset is retired before you purge it. | Purge Stale Assets |
If an asset is missing from the inventory, start at stage 1. Check that the source is connected and is reporting data before you look at identification or purge rules.
Discovery Views
Use these Inventory views to explore your discovered assets:
| View | What it shows |
|---|---|
| All Assets | All assets that CSAM discovers across your environment. |
| Hosts | Physical and virtual machines found through network and agent-based discovery. |
| Software | All software found across your discovered assets. |
| Web Applications | Web apps and services found through WAS discovery. |
| Certificates | SSL/TLS certificates found on discovered network assets. |
| Open Ports | Open ports and running services found during network scans. |