CTEM Explained

What is Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM)?

CTEM is a workflow process created by Gartner to enable cybersecurity senior management with an optimal and strategic approach to managing cyber threats and risks.

Why it matters

The Case for CTEM

For CISOs, the key benefit of implementing CTEM is to provide your organization with strategic advantages, aligning cybersecurity efforts with business goals. It ensures that security investments are prioritized based on actionable intelligence, reducing the likelihood of breaches.

Understanding the motivation for a CTEM strategy

CTEM is a systemic approach to refining an organization's security posture amidst a landscape where threats outpace traditional defenses. The premise is simple: zero-day vulnerabilities, while significant, are not the primary culprits behind breaches. Instead, a successful protection approach marries the readiness for unknown threats with a strategic emphasis on publicly known vulnerabilities and identified control gaps.

As organizations adopt technological advantages both on-premises and in the cloud, the attack surface widens as does the risk landscape. New technologies and business initiatives like SaaS applications, IoT, and supply chain touchpoints introduce new vulnerabilities.

CTEM in action

A Five-Step Cycle with Practical Steps

Once fully mature, a CTEM-led program encompasses a five-step cycle: scoping, discovery, prioritization, validation, and mobilization.

This cycle ensures that outputs from exposure management contribute to multiple parts of the security and IT organizations, facilitating a holistic management approach to a wide set of exposures. It's a cyclical, iterative process that demands regular, repeatable steps to ensure consistent outcomes.

It’s important to understand that the CTEM process has two distinct phases: Diagnose and Action.

CTEM five-step cycle diagram highlighting the Diagnose phase

Phase 1

Diagnose

Diagnose ensures the stages of planning and discovery are not classified as an end goal in isolation, and become more valuable as part of the CTEM process. In isolation, discovery of vulnerabilities or compromised third-party infrastructure should not be classified as a success independent from corporate priorities.

CTEM five-step cycle diagram highlighting the Action phase

Phase 2

Action

Action defines the operational phase of the CTEM model. It factors in examples such as an assessment being made to validate if a vulnerability is exploitable and if a known threat actor has exploited it. It encapsulates the need to manage business risks and threats in collaboration with stakeholders through dissemination of the CTEM findings to refine process, create new workflows or take remedial actions based on optimal situational awareness.

  1. 01

    Scoping: Define the Battlefield

    Example scoping activities

    • Inventory digital assets, including cloud instances, endpoints, and operational technology.
    • Define business-critical systems and data, focusing on what is essential to protect.
    • Establish governance to manage CTEM with clear roles and responsibilities.
  2. 02

    Discovery: Identifying the Known and Unknown

    Example discovery activities

    • Implementation of comprehensive scanning tools for vulnerability assessment.
    • Increased maturity of resources that leverage threat intelligence services.
    • Regular penetration testing to uncover hidden vulnerabilities.
  3. 03

    Prioritization: Making Informed Decisions

    Example prioritization activities

    • Using risk-based vulnerability management tools to evaluate the severity and impact of threats.
    • Aligning security measures with business impact, prioritizing actions that protect the most critical assets.
    • Collaboration between IT and business units to ensure risk assessments are business-aware.
  4. 04

    Validation: Testing Your Defenses

    Example validation activities

    • Remediation and mitigation actions are validated through simulated attack scenarios.
    • Regular reviews of security policies and practices to ensure they are effective and up-to-date.
    • Establishing metrics and KPIs to measure the effectiveness of security posture.
  5. 05

    Mobilization: Orchestrating Response and Remediation

    Example mobilization activities

    • Continuously developing, testing, and improving incident response plans that include CTEM insights.
    • Training employees on security awareness and response protocols.
    • Establishing and maintaining a cross-functional team to manage and act on CTEM outputs.

Use cases

CTEM Use Cases

The use cases for CTEM vary from the strategic to the tactical, but the key objective is alignment: each use case should map to the process.

Risk-Based Decision Making

Enhanced Risk-Based Decision Making

Objective
Shift from reactive to strategic, risk-based cybersecurity decisions.
Use case
Organizations leverage CTEM to assess and prioritize vulnerabilities across their digital assets, focusing on those with the highest potential impact on business operations and financial stability.

Optimize Your Investments

Optimization of Security Investments

Objective
Maximize ROI on cybersecurity efforts by focusing on the most effective measures.
Use case
An organization uses CTEM analysis to compare the risk reduction potential of various security technologies, choosing solutions that offer the greatest outcome for their investment.

Improve Collaboration

Cross-Functional Alignment and Collaboration

Objective
Break down silos and foster unity among all departments around cybersecurity goals.
Use case
Through CTEM-driven insights, different departments within an organization, ranging from IT and security to marketing and operations, collaborate more effectively to ensure all new initiatives are secure by design.

Regulatory Compliance

Proactive Compliance and Regulatory Advantage

Objective
Stay proactive in compliance efforts to avoid penalties and maintain trust.
Use case
An organization employs CTEM to continuously monitor and adapt to evolving regulatory requirements, ensuring compliance across all facets of its operations and thereby mitigating the financial risk of fines.

Supply Chain

Strengthened Supply Chain Security

Objective
Enhance the security of the supply chain by effectively managing third-party risks.
Use case
Utilizing CTEM, a company systematically evaluates the security posture of its suppliers and partners, identifying and addressing vulnerabilities to safeguard its supply chain from potential breaches.

Cybersecurity as an Enabler

Data-Driven Cybersecurity Culture

Objective
Cultivate a culture where cybersecurity is a shared responsibility, informed by data.
Use case
Organizations implement CTEM to gather and analyze security data, using these insights to inform and engage all employees in the importance of cybersecurity, encouraging proactive and vigilant behaviors across the board.

Put CTEM into practice with real-time threat intelligence

Discovery and prioritization are only as strong as the intelligence behind them. See how CISOs prove the return on threat reconnaissance, or talk to an expert about your CTEM program.

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