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

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.