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External Monitoring: Frequently Asked Questions

Kian Pace avatar
Written by Kian Pace
Updated today

What is External Monitoring?

External Monitoring is a new feature that helps you understand your organization's security posture from an outside perspective. It currently scans your email and web security configurations to identify potential security improvements.


Privacy & Security

Who can see my scan results?

Scan results are visible to External Monitoring customers, which allows them to see scan results alongside your assessment and Risk Ledger. This will help you:

  • Demonstrate your security posture with objective data

  • Support your assessment responses with evidence

  • Show your commitment to security improvements

Is the scanning process secure?

Yes. Our scanning process:

  • Follows industry best practices for security testing

  • Only checks publicly available security configurations

  • Never attempts to exploit vulnerabilities or access private data

What data do you collect?

We only collect information from public DNS records and web server responses, similar to what any web browser would receive. This includes:

  • Email security configurations (SPF, DMARC)

  • Web security headers

  • SSL/TLS certificate information


Using External Monitoring

How do I get started?

  1. Visit the External Monitoring section in your Risk Ledger account

  2. Review any pre-populated assets

  3. Add additional assets by clicking "add asset"

  4. Check your initial security findings

Note: if you have a Web Application Firewall (WAF), you may need to whitelist Risk Ledger's scanning IP address in order for us to scan your assets.

IP Addresses to whitelist:

18.202.105.19252.215.173.201

Can I add or remove assets to scan?

  • Yes, you can manage your assets at any time through the External Monitoring interface.

  • Please note that we use the registered website on your profile as an initial system asset, and to change this you can update the website on your profile.

  • You may also make assets inactive if they are no longer in use.

How often are scans performed?

  • DNS and Web security checks (TLS, CSP, HSTS, HTTP headers) run weekly

  • Email security checks (SPF, DMARC) run weekly

  • Suppliers can manually trigger a rescan of email security checks at any time, from a finding directly


Getting Help & Providing Feedback

How do I provide feedback?

We want to hear from you! You can:

  • Use the feedback button within the product

  • Book a feedback session with our team here

  • Reply to any of our communications

What if I find incorrect results?

Please let us know immediately through any of the feedback channels. Understanding any false positives or inaccuracies helps us improve the service.

Can I get help understanding my results?

Yes! We offer:

  • Detailed explanations within the product

  • Help documentation for each type of security check

  • To get more help, please reach out to our support team via Intercom


Future Plans

What features are coming next?

We're focusing on email, DNS and web security for the beta, but our roadmap includes:

  1. Enhanced Security Guidance

    • Clearer explanations of why each check matters

    • Practical steps for improving configurations

    • Industry best practice recommendations

  2. Assessment Integration

    • Connect scan results to assessment answers

    • Provide evidence of security controls

    • Combine outside-in data with your assessment responses

  3. Result Sharing

    • Share results with customers to demonstrate your security posture

    • Add context to explain your configurations

    • Show progress on security improvements

  4. Additional Security Checks

    • Expanded domain checks

    • More security indicators

Our goal is to help you understand your security posture and make meaningful improvements. We'd love to hear what additional security checks and guidance would be most valuable for your organisation.


Technical Details

What specific configurations do you check?

Email Security

Web Security

DNS Security

Port Scanning

Have another question?

Contact our Product Manager, Arati Dey anytime at arati@riskledger.com.

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