Pivot to cyber risk management from traditional vulnerability management

CTEM as a Service provides a comprehensive five-step process to identify and mitigate threats to an organization’s networks and systems. This service enables organizations to evaluate their security posture and detect vulnerabilities.

Unlike vendor-specific technologies or tools, CTEM offers a structured approach that empowers organizations to prioritize potential threats and corresponding remediation efforts effectively, especially in the context of an expanding attack surface.

By adopting the CTEM program, organizations can proactively manage their security risks, keeping pace with evolving threats. The CTEM approach transcends traditional, reactive vulnerability management, offering a practical and proactive strategy to address and mitigate the most critical risks.

• Proactive Risk Management: CTEM continuously monitors digital infrastructure, addressing vulnerabilities before they escalate.
• Prioritization of Threats: Assessing impact and allocating resources efficiently.
• Enhanced Cyber Resilience: Iteratively refining defenses for continuous improvement.
• Actionable Insights: Generating real-time threat data for effective remediation.
• Alignment with Business Objectives: Integrating strategic goals into cybersecurity strategies.Adaptability: Evolving alongside technological advancements and emerging threats.

In comparison to traditional vulnerability management, CTEM is proactive, holistic, aligned with business goals, promotes continuous improvement, integrates with existing security controls, and emphasizes validation through simulation tools.

CTEM stands apart from traditional vulnerability management programs in several key ways:

1. Proactive vs. Reactive Approach: Traditional programs reactively address vulnerabilities post-discovery, while CTEM proactively monitors the threat landscape, prioritizing preemptive remediation to mitigate potential exploits.
2. Broader Scope: While traditional programs often focus solely on technical vulnerabilities, CTEM takes a holistic view, recognizing threats from various sources such as configuration errors, credential misuse, and insider risks.
3. Business-Aligned Prioritization: Traditional approaches may struggle to prioritize remediation efforts effectively, whereas CTEM aligns priorities with business objectives, concentrating on threats that pose the greatest risk to critical assets.
4. Continuous Improvement: Traditional methods tend to be static, with periodic scans. In contrast, CTEM emphasizes continuous enhancement by perpetually monitoring.
5. Integration with Security Controls: While traditional practices often operate independently, CTEM integrates seamlessly with existing security measures, promoting a cohesive strategy for managing threat exposure.
6. Emphasis on Validation: Traditional approaches rely on theoretical assessments, whereas CTEM places a premium on validation. It employs tools like Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS) and Security Control Validation to simulate attacks and verify the effectiveness of defensive measures.

Businesses of all sizes and across various industries can apply Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM). The concepts of CTEM can benefit any organization, regardless of its size or industry. These concepts include being vigilant for potential threats, prioritizing what is essential for the business, and continuously striving for improvement. By implementing these ideas, organizations can enhance their overall performance and success.

All organizations, regardless of size, can benefit from using a CTEM program. This includes small businesses just beginning to use digital tools and large companies with multiple digital systems. A CTEM program can help businesses in various ways. CTEM is flexible and scalable, making it easy to adapt to the specific needs and resources of any organization.

CTEM is important for industries that deal with sensitive data such as finance, healthcare, IT, and e-commerce. Industries facing cybersecurity threats should adopt a proactive and constantly improving approach to address them.

The same holds true for businesses operating in regulated industries. CTEM not only enhances security measures but also ensures compliance with industry-specific cybersecurity regulations.

Scoping within the Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) cycle entails a meticulous examination of the infrastructure segments to be encompassed in the process. It necessitates a thorough comprehension of the organization’s business aspects to establish an appropriate scope for the CTEM initiative. For a pilot CTEM program, an ideal scope might involve scrutinizing the external attack surface and the security posture of Software as a Service (SaaS) systems.

The process initiates with an exhaustive discovery phase, which entails assessing the entire attack surface—externally, internally, and within the cloud. As the CTEM cycle advances, refining the scope becomes imperative. This stage underscores the importance of precise metrics, which should encompass network segment specifics, security control data, identified threat categories, threat tactics and techniques, quantified risk factors, and overall cyber resilience metrics. These metrics, originating from the initial scoping phase, serve as a basis for aligning the refined scope with the organization’s strategic cybersecurity objectives.