In the times when every field in business is adopting and using technology in their work culture to enhance productivity and growth, there is a crucial matter that needs awareness of challenges that might be faced with digital transformation. There is a threat to privacy and security issues when we use technology as well as unauthorized access to data and customer information. In this article, let us learn the concept of Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) and its role in safeguarding the information and data related to the organization more effectively.
What is Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM)?
Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) is the fundamental strategic approach in the security management of the organization. That involves assessing, monitoring, and identifying vulnerabilities in organizational security protection. This approach is the new wave in cybersecurity that goes beyond and is more efficient than the traditional approach in managing digital threats. It comprises analyzing and mitigating the real-time potential threats and helps in maintaining robust security management. In this digitally and technologically transforming world, if businesses neglect to take required measures on security, then they are at high risk.
Need for Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM)
With the vast use of technology for all the organization’s operations and activities there is the risk of maintaining the security of the data that is been gathered for different purposes. To protect this confidential information from being hacked we need the approach of Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM). The areas and opportunities for threat have increased with the use of cloud technology hence CTEM is proactive in identifying these threats and provides a strategy for risk mitigation. The continuous monitoring process of CTEM will respond rapidly to any vulnerabilities and safeguard the information piracy.
In the threat landscape, the use of CTEM in security operations will provide frictionless experiences in business. Involving security management with the other assets of the organization will create more effectiveness in managing vulnerability assessments. CTEM along with continuous security monitoring will also help in identifying the critical threats and hence prioritizing the same in solving them immediately for risk mitigation.
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Stages involved in CTEM
Now we will learn the 5 stages that are involved in Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) and they are scoping, discovery, prioritization, validation, and mobilization.
Scoping is the first step in CTEM which performs the task of identifying the attack surface and will also help to discover the most important cyber threat for your business. The two major attack areas are external attack surface and SaaS security posture. This needs the inclusion of digital aspects rather than the other physical and software assets. The next stage is discovery, which involves the deeper identification of threats and vulnerabilities. It is efficient in discovering hidden and unnoticed cyber threats with the consideration of hardware, software, IoT, data hubs, networks, and websites where there is a change of hidden threats. This stage is usually misunderstood with the first step and increases the chance of negligence in digging deeper and future risk factors.
Prioritization, which is the third step in CTEM will perform the task of segregating the threats based on the importance and level of risk factors. This will help in identifying the most impactful threat that might cause high damage to an organization and find the most effective way to fix these issues which might lead to high loss. The next step is validation, as the term itself describes it is used to validate the currently identified risks and whether the plan used to mitigate them is effective or not. The last stage of CTEM is mobilizing everyone on the same page, the aim is to establish a smooth process. At this phase, the organization must input the new automation that will work effectively with the existing automation frameworks.
Conclusion
To conclude, Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) is the modern way of approach to attaining proactive cybersecurity in the organization. The stages involved will make the effective and efficient identification of cyber threats and also plan to mitigate them. With the continuous monitoring and identification approach of CTEM, an organization can enjoy high data protection and mitigate vulnerability assessment successfully.