The modern threat landscape requires enterprise security teams to think and act beyond traditional cybersecurity measures that are purely passive and reactive, and most often ineffective against new threats and sophisticated threat actors. Cybersecurity prioritization means implementing more proactive, adaptive and practical measures that can be collaborated to effectively deal with the threats that impact your business most.
Ideally, these measures should include ongoing threat exposure management (CTEM) program implementation, vulnerability management, and attack surface management (ASM). With CTEM, vulnerability management, and ASM, it uniquely complements each other, so it’s not a question of which is “better” or “more effective.” By adopting all three, your security team gains continuous visibility and context, the context needed to actively increase defense, and raises your feet above threat actors.
Learn how CTEM vs VM vs ASM Triad is the perfect investment for your security-enabled organization.
What is Vulnerability Management (VM)?
Vulnerability management is the process of identifying, analyzing, remediating and managing cybersecurity vulnerabilities across an organization’s IT ecosystem. A well-defined VM process is important for the enemy to proactively identify and resolve vulnerabilities in order to better protect their organization against common cyber attacks.
A VM is a continuous process that usually involves the next phase:
Vulnerability Discovery Vulnerability Assessment and Prioritization Vulnerability Reassessment Vulnerability Reassessment VM Improvements
What is Attack Surface Management (ASM)?
Attack surface management or ASM is the practice of continually identifying and prioritizing assets at the most important attacker entry points across an organization’s attack surface. It’s like a VM in the sense that it aims to discover, analyze, correct and monitor vulnerabilities within an organization’s attack surface.
However, ASM takes a broader holistic approach to enterprise security. Therefore, if the main goal of a VM is to identify and manage known vulnerabilities within known assets, ASM aims to discover and manage all potential entry points for attackers.
Additionally, ASM allows organizations to identify and address vulnerabilities before they are exploited. ASM tools are intelligent because they can not only discover exposed assets, but also provide deep contextual insights into the entry points of those assets and their key attackers. ASM complements VMs and helps to enhance security defenses.
Like VMs, ASM is a continuous, circular process that typically involves multiple overlapping phases.
Asset Discovery Asset Inventory and Classification Vulnerability Identification and Risk Asset Prioritization and Risk Scoring Vulnerability Repair and Reporting
What is Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM)?
Continuous threat exposure management, often shortened to CTEM, is a systematic approach to discovering, prioritizing, verifying, and responding to security exposures. The CTEM program provides the structure and framework needed for modern organizations to actively and continuously monitor external surfaces, assess the vulnerability of those surfaces, and mobilize resources beyond response and functionality to reduce security risks.
Effective and ongoing CTEM is a five-step process. These stages are as follows:
Circumstances of cybersecurity threats (identify internal and external attack surfaces) prioritize the level of urgency, security, and risk testing to discover assets, build risk profiles for each asset, verify vulnerabilities in real-world attack simulations, and mobilize resources for vulnerability and threat remediation
CTEM, VM, and ASM: Overlap and Complementary Security Approach
It is important to understand that CTEM is not a standalone tool or a single technology-based solution. Rather, it is a holistic, proactive and iterative approach to security, leveraging multiple tools and technologies to provide improved security outcomes.
As we have seen, the CTEM lifecycle begins by identifying the attack surface of an organization. Risk-based ASM solutions and VM tools are here. While VM tools facilitate vulnerability identification and prioritization, ASM tools provide visualization of all exposed assets, both known and unknown, and associated risks.
The most effective CTEM program combines VM and ASM technologies and tools. It also incorporates other offensive security techniques such as pentests (top pentest companies), red teams, and hostile exposure verification (AEV).
These technologies strengthen each other to notify you of risk identification and remediation, manage your organization’s attack surface and enhance your security attitude. Together, they will help you create a global CTEM program that offers:
Real-time visibility into assets and continuous protection and risk-based prioritization of vulnerabilities for continuous protection context and risk-based prioritization of vulnerabilities, prioritizing real-world vulnerability simulations highlighting the potential impact of real-world exploitation of identified vulnerabilities.
Optimize your security attitude with BreachLock’s unified platform for CTEM
As we’ve seen, CTEM, VM, and ASM are not separate processes or programs. Rather, they overlap each other, providing more comprehensive visibility into threat situations and providing strong protection from all kinds of attacks. However, managing a variety of point solutions, such as VMs, ASMs, and PTAAs, can be complicated and burdensome for security teams.
BreachLock seamlessly integrates VM, ASM, and PTAAS solutions into integrated interfaces to support your overall CTEM program. It also integrates assets, vulnerabilities, and test results, maps the entire attack surface, integrates security tests, validates attack paths, makes it easier for both security processes.
BreachLock’s integrated CTEM approach provides a single source of truth that empowers you.
Accelerate the vulnerability and threat repair scale in your environment to get a full view of the attack surface. Get a clear and comprehensive view of security investments and outcomes, faster, context-driven decision-making, no matter its size or complexity.
Discover how BreachLock’s solutions match the five-stage CTEM framework to enhance your defense strategy. Please contact us for a free demo.
About Bleach Lock
BreachLock is a global leader in offensive security, offering scalable and continuous security testing. Trusted by Global Enterprises, BreachLock offers powerful human-driven AI attack surface management, penetration testing, red teams, and hostile exposure verification (AEV) services that help security teams stay ahead of their enemies. With its mission to make proactive security a new standard, Breachlock is shaping the future of cybersecurity through automation, data-driven intelligence, and expert-driven execution.
Know your risks. Contact BreachLock now!
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