Resource Type: White Paper

Ahead of the Curve: The Role of CTEM in Cyber Risk Management

Written by Critical Start Staff on .

Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) is as a cyclical “set of processes and capabilities that allows enterprises to continually and consistently evaluate the accessibility, exposure, and exploitability of an enterprise’s digital and physical assets.” (Gartner)

Adopting CTEM is a strategic imperative for organizations aiming to enhance their cybersecurity posture. CTEM offers a comprehensive approach to continuously identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks posed by cyber threats.

This paper explores CTEM, including why it emerged as a strategy, the benefits of adoption, and how to achieve continuous threat exposure management. It explores:

  • Specifics of CTEM, highlighting how it drives greater risk reduction by prioritizing business context and cross-functional ownership.
  • How CTEM helps organizational leadership make data-informed decisions.
  • The five-step CTEM approach—scoping, discovery, prioritization, mobilization, and validation—and how each contributes to a robust security management process.
  • The challenges organizations face in creating a CTEM program and how to overcome them.

By the conclusion, readers will see how their organization can leverage Critical Start to move purposefully toward the implementation of a successful CTEM strategy and lower the risk of a breach.

Ahead of the Curve: The Role of CTEM in Cyber Risk Management

Kickstarting Your OT Security Journey: Practical Steps for Industrial Operations

Written by Ryan Gazdacka on .

Practical steps for securing Operational Technology (OT) systems are fundamental for building resilience against evolving cyber threats in industrial environments.

Our first OT white paper emphasizes cost-effective approaches and high-impact measures to help you protect your critical operations by taking measures such as:

  • Separating OT from IT networks
  • Isolating OT from the Internet, and
  • Implementing continuous monitoring

We also explore key frameworks such as the Purdue model and the SANS ICS Critical Controls and how Managed Detection and Response (MDR) services can support OT security initiatives. 

Download now to learn how to eliminate barriers to kickstart and improve your OT security journey.

Enhancing Cyber Risk Management: Unveiling the Five Critical Components

Written by Akshay Morkhade on .

Rapidly evolving cyber threats demand that organizations implement effective cyber risk management practices. This white paper provides an in-depth look at the five critical components that form the foundation of robust cyber risk management, helping professionals fortify their defenses and enhance organizational resilience.

Discover the transformative approach to cyber risk assessments in our latest whitepaper. 

Key Takeaways: 

  • Comprehensive Frameworks: Learn how industry-standard frameworks like NIST, ISO 27001, and CIS Controls can guide your cybersecurity strategies.
  • Risk Identification and Management: Discover structured methods for identifying, assessing, and mitigating cyber risks effectively.
  • Lifecycle Management: Understand the importance of managing the risk lifecycle, from initial assessment to ongoing monitoring and reporting.
  • Quantitative and Qualitative Analyses: Gain insights into how both qualitative and quantitative assessments can drive your security decisions.
  • Strategic Alignment with Business Objectives: Explore how cybersecurity efforts can be aligned with broader business goals for better risk management.

Don’t wait — unlock the essential strategies for strengthening your cybersecurity now.

IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Emerging Managed Detection and Response (MDR) Services 2024 Vendor Assessment

Written by Ryan Gazdacka on .

Download the free Excerpt on Worldwide Emerging Managed Detection and Response (MDR) Services 2024 Vendor Assessment

Security leaders are adapting strategies to focus on comprehensive threat detection, incident response, and elevated cybersecurity maturity. This IDC MarketScape report evaluates worldwide vendors of the Emerging Managed Detection and Response (MDR) services using the rigorous IDC MarketScape model.

Why Download This Excerpt?

  • Understand the market based on current demands and future needs in the MDR market.
  • See why Critical Start was named a Major Player.
  • Gain strategic insights from industry experts to help guide your cybersecurity decisions and enhance security posture.

This report is essential for anyone involved in cybersecurity decision-making, providing a detailed evaluation of vendors based on a comprehensive framework designed to highlight the factors critical for success in the MDR field.

Get your copy today to make informed decisions that safeguard your organization against complex security threats.

IDC MarketScape vendor analysis model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of ICT suppliers in a given market. The research methodology utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each vendor’s position within a given market. The Capabilities score measures vendor product, go-to-market and business execution in the short-term. The Strategy score measures alignment of vendor strategies with customer requirements in a 3-5-year timeframe. Vendor market share is represented by the size of the icons.

Shifting Paradigms: Redefining Cyber Risk Assessments for Tangible Outcomes

Written by Ryan Gazdacka on .

As the cyber threat landscape evolves rapidly, how can you ensure your risk assessments provide actionable insights to strengthen security? Are your assessments just ticking boxes, or do they deliver long-term benefits so you can improve your security strategy with actionable insights? 

Discover the transformative approach to cyber risk assessments in our latest whitepaper. 

Key Takeaways: 

  • Strategic Value Redefined: Learn how platform-based, framework-aligned risk assessments offer strategic security insights in addition to just compliance from traditional models. 
  • Benchmarking for Better Decisions: Uncover the power of industry comparisons and peer benchmarking data to help you make data-driven cybersecurity decisions. 
  • Investments Tied to Risk Tolerance: Align your security investments with your organization’s unique risk tolerance for efficient and effective use of resources. 
  • Measurable Improvements: Use these insightful assessments to track and measure tangible improvements in your security posture over time.  

Dive into our whitepaper to explore a shifting approach to cyber risk assessments that delivers tangible outcomes for continual security posture improvement. 

Read Now to Unlock Actionable Insights for Enhanced Security Posture

You Can’t Protect What You Can’t See

Written by Akshay Morkhade on .

Concerned your MDR service isn’t detecting all the threats your organization is exposed to? You’re not alone. Unknown endpoints and security coverage gaps lead to increased risk of a breach, non-compliance, and data and financial loss.

Download our whitepaper to explore how our expanded MDR solution increases visibility across the IT estate, empowering security leaders to effectively close these critical gaps by validating that all security controls are in place and working as expected.

Security teams deserve a better way to optimize operations and reduce cyber risk. Discover how we’ve evolved our MDR beyond threat detection and response by including full signal coverage as part of our standard service to mitigate weaknesses in attack surfaces and ensure the SOC receives the expected signals for threat identification and containment.

Key Takeaways:

  • Understand the increased risks associated with endpoint security coverage gaps.
  • Learn why legacy MDR solutions fall short in providing comprehensive visibility across the IT estate.
  • Discover how expanded MDR helps maximize defenses by actively identifying and empowering teams to remediate coverage gaps before they become entry points.

Dive into our whitepaper to understand how the “see no evil” approach of legacy MDR results in its inability to scale and adapt to the dynamic nature of emerging threats.

Explore Critical Start’s approach to managing risk with an evolved MDR solution that empowers security leaders to strengthen defenses by securing all endpoint coverage gaps.

Read Now to Strengthen Your Cybersecurity and Secure Your Endpoints

Critical Start Learning Objective: Kerberoasting

Written by Cyber Threat Intelligence Team on .

Kerberoasting is an attack that targets enterprise Windows environments. Threat actors that have access to a valid, compromised account use it to steal credentials by abusing user authentication, and continue to access the network without raising any suspicions.

Download this White Paper from our Cyber Threat Research team to learn more about how kerberoasting works, detection and mitigation, and documented cases.

Download Now

MDR Providers Decoded: A Comprehensive Guide to Evaluating the Top 10 Capabilities Your Provider Needs

Written by Akshay Morkhade on .

Managed Detection and Response is your last line of defense against business disruption and loss, so make sure you pick the right one!

The top 10 capabilities to evaluate when selecting an MDR provider to ensure that you get it right.

The 2023 Gartner® Market Guide for Managed Detection and Response Services estimates that more than 600 providers in this market claim to offer MDR services.

With so many MDR providers and their service variations vying for your attention, sifting through the noise to figure out which MDR service best fits the needs of your organization is a daunting task. 

Many security leaders are asking themselves “How do I select the right MDR service provider for my organization?”

Read this whitepaper to learn:

  • The basic service capabilities that an MDR provider should possess
  • How to best assess and select an MDR service to ensure that they
    • Align with your specific business requirements
    • Deliver the right capabilities to reduce risk and increase team productivity
    • Confidently mature your security posture through provable metrics
  • The key service capabilities you should look for when evaluating when selecting an MDR provider

After reading this whitepaper you will understand what to look for in an MDR service to ensure that you select the most effective MDR service per dollars invested to reduce your risk.

Get the whitepaper

Buyer’s Guide for MDR Services for Microsoft Sentinel

Written by Akshay Morkhade on .

What You’ll Learn

In this guide, you will learn the criteria of how to maximize the performance of Microsoft Sentinel through managed detection and response (MDR) deployment strategies.

Topics Include:

  • Accelerate ROI on Microsoft Sentinel Investment
  • Optimize Key SIEM Processes
  • Achieve Full Microsoft Sentinel Operating Potential
  • How Critical Start MDR Services works for Microsoft Sentinel
  • Questions to Ask When Shopping for an MDR Service Provider
  • MDR for SIEM Vendor Checklist

Download the Guide Now

Best Practices for Integrating your SOC Team with MDR Services

Written by Akshay Morkhade on .

What You’ll Learn

This white paper explores how organizations that have decided to enlist the help of a third party to support their security professionals, future proof their cybersecurity infrastructure and increase the overall security posture of their company can most effectively integrate their SOC team with their chosen MDR service provider.

Download the white paper now

Simplify your Microsoft Security Operations for Identity-Based Alerts

Written by Critical Start Staff on .

To address new and more sophisticated cybersecurity challenges, organizations have resorted to increased monitoring and detection of threats. However, existing approaches to monitor and respond to threats are proving to be inadequate. In this white paper, we will examine an approach to detect and address identity-based alerts in a Microsoft environment, and the measurable benefits from this approach.

The importance of resolving all alerts – RAGNARLOCKBIT

Written by Rob Davis on .

Resolving all alerts starts off with configuring security tools to collect all alerts. This creates an alert volume that overwhelm the capacity of most MDRs.

Traditional MDRs solve their scalability problem by suppressing alerts, requiring their clients to accept risk, often without their knowledge.

CRITICALSTART, powered by ZTAP and the TBR is the only MDR service that scales to resolve every alert, stop breaches, and reduce risk acceptance.

Third-Annual CRITICALSTART Research Report reveals persistent challenges and some silver linings

Written by Rob Davis on .

It’s back! For the third year in a row, we have surveyed SOC professionals from across the industry to learn more about the issues and challenges facing the cybersecurity community and its workers. As the old saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same…

Just like in 2018 and 2019, alert overload continues to be a serious problem plaguing our industry. What’s worse is that, in an attempt to combat alert overload, nearly half (49%) of our 2020 survey respondents reported that they are turning off high-volume alerting features when there is too much noise to process. We don’t have to tell you this, but it only takes one.

On the positive side, training was up, turnover was down, and the use of mobile apps for investigating, escalating, and remediating incidents and threats from any place at any time is nearing 50-percent of all respondents.

And, don’t worry, it was 2020 after all, so we even gathered some data on the impact COVID has had on our industry!

Check out the report for yourself, share on your social channels, and let us know what you think!

The Financial Consequences of Risk Acceptance Security Strategies Whitepaper

Written by Rob Davis on .

CRITICALSTART reduces endpoint risk to levels unachievable by traditional Managed Detection and Response (MDR) service providers and security tools alone. Our unique and leading-edge Trust-Oriented model is based on resolving every alert, the only way to reduce risk with confidence.

The volume and sophistication of new attacks, the cost of security tools, the shortage of security expertise and limited security budgets complicates risk management for today’s security leaders. Managing risk has become an exercise in trade-offs and risk acceptance.

Threat actors target hosts and servers to disrupt business operations and exfiltrate sensitive data. This can have significant financial impact and even threaten the survival of many businesses. Security leaders need to reassess their security strategies and the MDR service providers they entrust their organization to. They need to evaluate the financial impact of security events and how to best apply their limited resources to reduce risk.