CTEM (Continuous Threat Exposure Management)

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Written By Threat NG Staff

Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) is a proactive and iterative approach to cybersecurity that enables organizations to systematically identify, assess, prioritize, and remediate digital threats and vulnerabilities. It represents a shift from traditional, point-in-time security assessments to an ongoing and adaptive process.

Here's a breakdown of the key elements of CTEM:

  • Continuous Discovery: CTEM involves constantly discovering and mapping all digital assets exposed to potential threats. This includes:

    • External-facing systems (websites, applications, APIs)

    • Cloud environments

    • Third-party connections

    • Shadow IT

  • Continuous Assessment: CTEM continuously assesses these digital assets for vulnerabilities and weaknesses. This assessment considers various factors:

    • Known vulnerabilities (CVEs)

    • Misconfigurations

    • Weaknesses in authentication or authorization

    • Data exposures

  • Prioritization Based on Risk: CTEM prioritizes identified threats and vulnerabilities based on the potential risk they pose to the organization. This involves evaluating:

    • Likelihood of exploitation

    • Potential business impact

    • Context of the asset

  • Remediation: CTEM drives the remediation of prioritized threats and vulnerabilities. This may involve:

    • Patching systems

    • Changing configurations

    • Implementing security controls

    • Improving security processes

  • Validation: CTEM includes validating remediation efforts to ensure vulnerabilities are effectively addressed.

  • Automation and Orchestration: CTEM often uses automation and orchestration tools to streamline the discovery, assessment, prioritization, and remediation processes.

  • Integration: CTEM is most effective when integrated with other security tools and processes, such as:

    • Vulnerability management

    • Security information and event management (SIEM)

    • Incident response

CTEM provides a holistic and dynamic approach to managing an organization's threat exposure, enabling it to reduce its risk of cyberattacks proactively.

ThreatNG aligns well with Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) principles. It provides capabilities that support the continuous identification, assessment, prioritization, and remediation of external threats. Here's a breakdown of how ThreatNG facilitates CTEM:

1. Continuous Discovery

ThreatNG excels at continuous discovery. Its external discovery capabilities provide ongoing visibility into an organization's evolving external attack surface.

  • Comprehensive Coverage: ThreatNG discovers many external-facing assets, including web applications, subdomains, APIs, and cloud services.

  • Automation: ThreatNG's automated discovery process ensures that new or changed assets are quickly identified without manual intervention.

  • External Perspective: ThreatNG replicates an attacker's viewpoint by performing purely external discovery, identifying potential entry points that internal scans might miss.

2. Continuous Assessment

ThreatNG's external assessment capabilities enable the continuous evaluation of security risks:

  • Variety of Assessments: ThreatNG provides various security ratings that assess different aspects of an organization's external security posture. This includes:

    • Web Application Hijack Susceptibility: Continuously assesses web applications for vulnerabilities.

    • Subdomain Takeover Susceptibility: Continuously monitors subdomains for takeover risks.

    • Cyber Risk Exposure: Continuously evaluates potential cyber risks.

  • Detailed Analysis: ThreatNG's assessments involve a thorough analysis of various factors. For example, the Subdomain Takeover Susceptibility assessment analyzes DNS records and SSL certificate statuses.

  • Vulnerability Intelligence: ThreatNG uses vulnerability intelligence to provide context for identified vulnerabilities, including information on exploitability.

3. Prioritization Based on Risk

ThreatNG helps organizations prioritize security efforts based on risk:

  • Risk Scoring: ThreatNG uses scoring systems to quantify and prioritize security risks. For example, the Data Leak Susceptibility Score uses a letter grading system (A-F) to indicate severity.

  • Prioritized Reports: ThreatNG generates prioritized reports highlighting the most critical vulnerabilities and risks.

  • Contextual Information: ThreatNG provides contextual information about vulnerabilities, such as potential impact and exploitability, to help organizations make informed decisions about prioritization.

4. Remediation

ThreatNG supports remediation by providing actionable insights and guidance:

  • Actionable Recommendations: ThreatNG provides clear, actionable recommendations for addressing identified vulnerabilities.

  • Technical Details: ThreatNG's reports include technical details that security teams can use to remediate vulnerabilities.

  • Integration with Ticketing Systems: ThreatNG can integrate with ticketing systems to automate the assignment and tracking of remediation tasks.

5. Validation

ThreatNG's continuous monitoring capabilities enable the validation of remediation efforts:

  • Re-assessment: ThreatNG continuously reassesses systems after remediation to ensure that vulnerabilities have been successfully addressed.

  • Tracking Progress: ThreatNG allows organizations to track their progress in reducing threat exposure over time.

6. Automation and Orchestration

ThreatNG's features lend themselves to automation and orchestration:

  • API: ThreatNG likely provides an API that allows for the automation of data exchange with other security tools.

  • Policy Management: Customizable risk configuration and scoring enable organizations to automate risk management processes.

7. Integration

ThreatNG's value is enhanced through integration with other security tools:

  • Vulnerability Management Solutions: ThreatNG's external vulnerability assessments can complement internal vulnerability scans.

  • SIEM Systems: ThreatNG's threat intelligence and security ratings can enrich SIEM data.

  • SOAR Platforms: ThreatNG can provide valuable input for security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR) platforms.

Examples of ThreatNG Helping with CTEM:

  • ThreatNG continuously discovers new cloud assets the organization was unaware of, bringing them into the CTEM process.

  • ThreatNG continuously assesses the organization's web applications and APIs, identifying new vulnerabilities as they emerge.

  • ThreatNG prioritizes vulnerabilities based on their exploitability and potential business impact, enabling security teams to focus on the most critical issues.

  • ThreatNG's reporting provides actionable remediation guidance, helping security teams quickly address identified weaknesses.

Examples of ThreatNG Working with Complementary Solutions for CTEM:

  • ThreatNG integrates with a vulnerability management system to automatically import and correlate external findings with internal vulnerabilities.

  • ThreatNG's threat intelligence feeds into a SIEM system to provide context for security events and improve threat detection.

  • ThreatNG's API automates assessing and remediating vulnerabilities as part of a SOAR workflow.

ThreatNG provides a robust set of capabilities that align with the principles of CTEM, enabling organizations to continuously manage their external threat exposure and proactively reduce their risk of cyberattacks.

Threat NG Staff
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