The threat landscape is evolving at an unprecedented pace, driven by the rapid emergence of AI-powered attacks and an ever-growing volume of high and critical vulnerabilities. Security teams face mounting pressure to stay ahead, often overwhelmed by the sheer scale and sophistication of modern threats.
According to a recent report from Gartner,
We believe organizations must do more. But how does one start building towards a better exposure management program? Let’s look at Gartner’s analysis and review the steps to take as you work towards a more robust program.
“Define the Scope and Cadence of Exposure Assessments”
The attack surface is rapidly changing. Most organizations regularly add new devices, applications, or systems, making it extremely difficult to keep up. Understanding your networks, including attack paths or the highest business risks, helps you better define the priorities of an exposure management program. But this isn’t just a one-time thing.
As Gartner notes in their report, “CTEM only works if it is implemented in an iterative and continuous manner.”
We believe that periodic or scheduled vulnerability scans no longer keep you safe. You must continuously review and improve your process over time to maximize the value of your exposure management program.
“Enhance Discovery to Include Unpatchable Attack Surfaces”
With continuous attack surface management tools, you have an inventory of all your assets in one place, gaining a more complete picture of your networks.
Gartner report highlights, “One of the early steps in maturing a vulnerability management program into an exposure management program is to obtain optimal visibility across the attack surfaces your digital infrastructure occupies.”
In our opinion, this is why it is important to find a solution that enables you to monitor those devices that cannot be scanned or patched, such as OT devices or air-gapped networks. You need comprehensive visibility of your environment to stay ahead of cybercriminals.
Gartner® Report: How to Grow Vulnerability Management into Exposure Management
Gartner says a continuous threat exposure management (CTEM) approach is necessary to effectively address diverse threats and reduce exposure. Read report.
“Use Prioritization and Validation to Focus on Actively Exploited Exposures and Find the Most Impactful Treatment”
Once you have visibility into your network, you will better understand how vulnerabilities may affect you. We believe combining your attack surface map with factors like business context or threat intelligence tools (to determine if a vulnerability is being actively exploited), helps you determine the highest risks within your organization.
In addition, as Gartner notes in their report, “Adding a business context, such as asset value and impact of compromise, to exposure management activities can improve senior leadership engagement.”
“Mobilize Effective Remediation by Integrating Existing Workflows and Collaborating With Nonsecurity Teams”
Network and security have become increasingly siloed in recent years. Research shows that more than half of survey respondents (55%) were concerned about a security risk due to a lack of communication between network and security teams. Collaboration between groups is necessary for organizations to stay secure in today’s fast-paced digital world.
Additionally, we believe it is imperative that organizations go beyond patch-only strategies and look for different ways to mitigate risk in their networks.
The Gartner report says “Oftentimes, mitigation is the most effective action that can be taken, giving teams time to test and execute remediation activities without affecting business activities. Broadening your response from “patch only” and “reconfigure” to “mitigate, then remediate” makes patch and configuration management less challenging.”
Our customers have found that working together to gain network visibility allows you to consider alternative mitigation techniques, such as software upgrades, IPS signature updates, or firewall rule changes, that block or remove an access path to the vulnerable device.
While all organizations are unique, one thing is clear—the threat landscape is rapidly changing, and you must do more to stay secure. We believe that an exposure management program that provides full visibility and continuous monitoring of your networks will help you better protect what matters to you most.
*How to Grow Vulnerability Management Into Exposure Management
8 November 2024 by: Mitchell Schneider, Jeremy D’Hoinne, Jonathan Nunez, Craig Lawson
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