Introduced by Gartner in July 2022, CTEM is a continuous program that evaluates the accessibility, exposure, and exploitability of an organization’s digital and physical assets. Unlike reactive vulnerability management, which focuses on patching known vulnerabilities, CTEM addresses potential threats before they escalate into major security incidents. It employs various tools, such as Penetration Testing as a Service (PTaaS), attack surface management (ASM), automated pen-testing, and red-teaming, to maintain a proactive defense posture.
At the core of CTEM is its iterative approach, emphasizing integration, continuous improvement, and communication between security personnel and executives. This alignment ensures that threat mitigation strategies support organizational goals, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of security programs and fostering a culture of cybersecurity awareness across the organization. The CTEM process, as defined by Gartner, involves several stages: scoping, discovery, prioritization, validation, and mobilization. Scoping identifies the organization’s total attack surface, including internal and external vulnerabilities.
Discovery uses ASM tools to detect potential threats and vulnerabilities, while prioritization focuses on assessing risks based on their likelihood of exploitation and potential impact.
Validation confirms the existence and severity of identified threats through techniques like red-teaming and automated breach-and-attack simulations. Mobilization then implements remediation measures for validated high-priority threats, ensuring that they are aligned with business objectives and effectively communicated across departments.
Exposure management, a critical aspect of CTEM, involves determining the attack surface, assessing exploitability, and validating threats in a continuous cycle, thereby minimizing vulnerabilities and enhancing security resilience.
CTEM and exposure management are crucial for fostering a proactive security culture and addressing cybersecurity challenges before they escalate. By leveraging existing security tools and processes, organizations can integrate CTEM into their operations more efficiently, optimizing resource usage and complying with regulatory requirements. CTEM focuses on outcome-driven, business-aligned metrics that facilitate informed decision-making at the executive level.
It recognizes that while complete risk elimination is impossible, strategic risk reduction aligned with organizational objectives is essential. By prioritizing vulnerabilities based on their impact and feasibility, CTEM enables organizations to navigate the complex cybersecurity landscape effectively.
CTEM offers a pragmatic and systematic framework to continuously refine priorities and mitigate threats. By adopting CTEM, organizations can proactively protect their assets, improve resilience against evolving cyber threats, and ensure that their security initiatives align with broader business imperatives.
