CTEM, the What and Why
- Scrambling to keep up with compensating controls and patching? Mature organizations employ a Gartner’s 5-step process named Continuous Threat Exposure Management or CTEM
- CTEM is NOT a piece of software, it is a Cybersecurity workflow that can be supported and augmented with ESOF VMP
1. Scope
The quarterly phase involves a comprehensive delineation and classification of the organization’s attack surface. This entails:
- Inclusive Definition of Attack Surface: Incorporation of both tangible and intangible elements such as devices, applications, social media accounts, and supply chain systems.
- Preliminary Risk Assessment: Execution of a preliminary evaluation to ascertain the potential impact and urgency associated with vulnerabilities.
- Stakeholder Engagement: Engagement with key stakeholders to ensure consensus on the scope and prioritization of assets, grounded in business value and risk assessment.
ESOF VMP: Can handle multiple Classes of Scope for proper prioritization.
2. Discover
Daily uncover specific risks by identifying individual assets within each scope classification and continuously assess their vulnerabilities.
- Utilization of Discovery Tools: Deployment of both automated and manual tools to detect visible and hidden assets, alongside vulnerabilities and misconfigurations.
- Asset Inventory Management: Establishment and maintenance of a comprehensive asset inventory, categorizing assets based on criticality and vulnerability.
- Continuous Vulnerability Assessment: Implementation of continuous assessments to remain abreast of emerging threats and the discovery of new assets.
ESOF VMP: Discovery with your Favorite EASM, Vulnerability Scanners, and Cloud Security and Code Review. Scheduler for Continuous Scanning for existing Batch tools.
3. Prioritize
In real-time enhance, evaluate, and rank the identified threats, determining the sequence of remediation based on risk and impact.
- Risk-Based Prioritization Framework: Application of a risk-based framework to evaluate and rank vulnerabilities, considering severity, exploitability, impact, and Blast Radius.
- Emphasis on High-Value Assets: Prioritization efforts are focused on securing assets deemed critical to business operations and reputation.
- Business Context Integration: Prioritization is aligned with the organization’s risk tolerance and operational imperatives.
ESOF VMP: Cross-correlation with Exploits, AI-based risk prioritization integrating criticality, Scoping Class, and Reputation.
4. Validate
Validation that vulnerabilities are actionable and constitute legitimate threats or can be postponed as adequate compensating controls are in place.
- Exploitability Verification: Confirmation of the practical exploitability of vulnerabilities and the associated risk posed to the organization.
- Attack Pathway Analysis: Examination of potential attack vectors to comprehend the modalities through which vulnerabilities may be exploited.
- Compensating control coverage and applicability.
ESOF VMP: Native handling of Compensating Controls, pen testing cross reference.
5. Mobilize
Rally Team Security and IT teams to achieve the goals determined by the CTEM process Planning and execution of strategies to mitigate prioritized Threat Exposures.
- Strategic Communication and Planning: Clear articulation of the CTEM strategy to both security personnel and the wider business constituency.
- Operationalization of Mitigation Efforts: Translation of security insights into actionable mitigation tasks, facilitating streamlined approval and implementation processes.
- Integration of Human Oversight: Ensuring a balance between automated remediation processes and the necessity for human intervention in addressing complex or nuanced security issues.
ESOF VMP: Integration with Native ITSM like Jira and ServiceNow.
ESOF VMP enables organisations to quickly and easily cut through the noise and focus your resources on the risk that matters the most.
See for yourself.
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