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Understanding Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) - A Framework for Proactive Security

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In 2022, amidst a surge in breaches targeting known vulnerabilities, Gartner introduced the concept of Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) (source: Gartner, Implement a Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) Program, October 2023). The five steps of CTEM can help organizations take a structured, iterative approach to reducing their exposures and enhancing their security posture. 

Since then, security leaders across the globe have initiated projects to adopt CTEM. These companies are actively evolving from Vulnerability Management to Exposure Management programs. As a result, the focus is shifting from merely identifying Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) to a broader understanding of business risks, emphasizing a more comprehensive approach to vulnerability management.

Along with this blog, we encourage you to join our upcoming CTEM launch event and download and share our CTEM eBook to help your organization improve its risk posture.

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Why Vulnerability Management Programs Fall Short

Traditional vulnerability management programs are failing to adequately address the dynamic and complex threat landscape of today. Most do not incorporate specific business requirements or account for mitigating controls. Risk prioritization also misses the mark, with a lack of transparent or customizable risk calculations.

Several factors contribute to the inadequacy of traditional approaches, including:

1. Technology SprawlSaaS solutions, third-party services, and diverse cloud infrastructures have lengthened the list of recommended fixes, complicating vulnerability management efforts.

2. Narrow DefinitionsBroadening the definition of vulnerabilities to include misconfigurations and code flaws is essential for a more comprehensive approach.

3. Siloed ToolsetsCompanies rely on data about assets, users, behavior, and diverse systems to understand risk, but these data sets reside in disparate, disconnected tools.

The Foundation of CTEM

CTEM provides an approach for evolving VM programs. According to Gartner, “By 2026, organizations that prioritize their security investments based on a CTEM program will be three times less likely to suffer a breach.” (Gartner, Ibid)

The CTEM Process

CTEM is a cyclical process comprising five steps: Scoping, Discovery, Prioritization, Validation, and Mobilization. This repeatable cycle adjusts to changes in the business environment or the threat landscape, resulting in actionable findings that enable security and infrastructure teams to mitigate risks effectively.

1. Scoping involves making a business decision about which assets the CTEM program will cover. In larger enterprises, the attack surface is often much larger than what traditional vulnerability management programs cover. Deciding what to include in the scope requires careful consideration of potential business impacts, including financial damage, remediation effort, loss of consumer trust, and harm to business partners.

2. Discovery goes beyond CVEs to include asset and security control misconfigurations and other weaknesses, such as counterfeit assets. User behavior is another example—understanding which individuals are prone to phishing attacks is crucial. Accurate scoping based on business risk and potential impact is more valuable than simply discovering more assets and vulnerabilities.

3. Prioritization is the most critical aspect of an effective CTEM program, focusing on understanding which vulnerabilities present the greatest risk to the business. The Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) was an initial attempt to rank vulnerabilities by risk, but it has limitations. Effective prioritization requires synthesizing data from various sources and considering organization-specific risk factors and mitigating controls.

4. Validation involves simulating or emulating attack techniques to understand how attackers might exploit exposed vulnerabilities. This step assesses the likelihood of a successful real-world attack, estimates potential damage, and evaluates the effectiveness of current response and remediation processes.

5. Mobilization encompasses responding to the findings from the previous steps, focusing on remediation and reporting. Automation can increase efficiency, but human intervention is often necessary for effective remediation. Reducing friction in risk mitigation processes through a combination of human communication and tools is essential.

Our CTEM eBook includes more specifics on the challenges and gotchas in each of these five steps. 

Building an Effective CTEM Program with Zscaler

A comprehensive assessment of your risk landscape is possible when informed by dozens of correlated data sources, but there aren’t enough spreadsheets in the world to support human analysis at that scale. 

To address this challenge, Zscaler has pioneered the application of a data fabric to enable effective CTEM. The Zscaler Data Fabric for Security enables organizations to aggregate and correlate findings across 150+ security tools and business systems so that they can better understand and manage risks. The Data Fabric harmonizes, deduplicates, correlates, and enriches millions of data points spanning security findings and business context and serves several Zscaler solutions.

The Asset Exposure Management solution, launching next month, and Unified Vulnerability Management (UVM) solution assess and prioritize asset and exposure risk.

With our new Asset Exposure Management solution, you can:

  • Create a complete and accurate asset inventory: Enable asset resolution across dozens of source systems to create a holistic and accurate inventory.
  • Identify and close coverage gaps: Correlate asset details to pinpoint misconfigurations and missing controls to ensure compliance.
  • Mitigate risk: Activate risk mitigation policies, assign and track workflows, and automatically update your CMDB. 

With our Unified Vulnerability Management solution, you can

  • Prioritize exposures: Understand which exposures are riskiest for your enterprise in the context of your own unique environment, including mitigating controls in place and current threat intelligence. 
  • Create dynamic and custom reports: Dynamic dashboards and reports capture risk posture, and you can quickly build your own with an intuitive, widget-based wizard to illustrate any data point. Reports are always accurate because the data is always up to date.
  • Automate remediation workflows: Streamline remediation with automated ticket assignment and tracking, customizable to fit the way your teams like to work. Cluster work items according to easily adjustable grouping logic, and automatically close and re-open tickets as needed to maintain an accurate view of remediation status.

 Enhancing CTEM with the Zero Trust Exchange

For Zscaler customers, the CTEM solutions extend capabilities by drawing on intelligence from the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange, the world's largest AI-powered inline security cloud. This integration enhances risk prioritization and informs policy recommendations, creating an intelligent feedback loop that empowers enterprises to continuously reduce risk.

Conclusion

CTEM represents a significant advancement in vulnerability management, shifting the focus from isolated vulnerabilities to comprehensive risk management. By leveraging Zscaler's CTEM solutions and the Zero Trust Exchange, organizations can build a robust CTEM program that adapts to evolving threats and business changes, ultimately securing the future of their business. 

To learn more about our upcoming Asset Exposure Management solution, tune into our Virtual Launch Event. You can see our UVM solution in action in our Lightboard video or a custom demo. For a deeper understanding of CTEM and how Zscaler can help, check out our CTEM eBook.

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