In cyber security, more data doesn’t necessarily mean greater security. Over the past decade, organisations have layered numerous tools, flooding security teams with dashboards, alerts and reports. Instead of offering clarity, this deluge causes information overload.
Cyber attackers prosper in this chaos. By moving “low-and-slow”, using legitimate credentials or hiding behind third-party connections, they exploit the noise. Their activities blend in, and breaches go unnoticed until damage has been done.
It’s time for a smarter, more ongoing approach to address this challenge: CTEM – continuous threat exposure management.
Why CTEM is critical
The average cost of a data breach has reached $4.88 million globally (IBM, 2024). The 2025 Verizon DBIR reveals that credentials (22%) and vulnerability exploitation (20%) remain the main entry points, methods that closely resemble common daily activities. When defenders are overwhelmed by thousands of alerts, these threats often go unnoticed.
Unlike traditional vulnerability management or periodic threat assessments, CTEM continuously detects, prioritises, validates and remedies security exposures in real-time. This modern, proactive method enables security teams to focus on what truly matters.
The attacker’s advantage and how CTEM counters it
Modern attackers don’t force entry through doors; they quietly gain access. They utilise stolen credentials, legitimate tools like PowerShell and remain within systems for days or weeks.
Mandiant’s latest report reveals a global median dwell time of 11 days – rising to 26 days when a third party detects the breach. CTEM reduces dwell time by eliminating noise that attackers target. It continuously monitors for misconfigurations, shadow IT, ineffective controls and exploitable vulnerabilities, both internal and external.
How CTEM changes the game
Where traditional TEM is alert-driven and fragmented, CTEM delivers:
- Real-time scoping and discovery of vulnerabilities, misconfigurations and security control gaps.
- Risk-based prioritisation aligned with business impact – not just CVSS scores.
- Validation of security controls across the infrastructure to detect drift and coverage issues.
- Continuous remediation workflows, integrated with GRC requirements (ISO 27001, NIST, DORA, CIS, etc).
- Unified visibility across cloud, endpoint and hybrid environments.
CTEM not only identifies issues, it highlights what matters, what’s real and the next steps.
CyberCyte X-CTEM: Turning CTEM into real-world results
CyberCyte’s X-CTEM platform operationalises CTEM to assist organisations in lowering risk, not merely managing alerts. CyberCyte is the only platform that combines CTEM with GRC and response capabilities, enabling measurable risk reduction and actionable intelligence.
Key takeaways
- CTEM is essential for cutting through the noise that attackers hide in.
- Organisations using CTEM are three times less likely to experience a breach by 2026 (Gartner).
- Internal detection shortens attacker dwell time from 26 days to just 10.
- CyberCyte X-CTEM delivers a unified approach to risk visibility, compliance and automated response.
FAQ: CTEM
What is CTEM?
CTEM is a proactive, ongoing approach to identifying, prioritising, validating and remediating cyber exposures across the full attack surface.
How does CTEM differ from TEM or vulnerability management?
TEM is often reactive and alert-based. CTEM is continuous, risk-focused and integrated with GRC and remediation processes. Vulnerability management is typically point-in-time and narrowly scoped.
Andrzej Jarmolowicz is co-founder and Operations Director at Cybershure. The company is a distributor of bespoke IT solutions, with offices in London and South Africa, and is the sole distributor of CyberCyte in Africa.
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