If CTEM really does lead to a two-thirds reduction in breaches (Gartner’s forecast) then the acronym’s first letter – ‘C’ for continuous – is a key reason why.
Periodic asset discovery and point-in-time security testing are simply inadequate given myriad cyber threats and digital transformation.
The CTEM (continuous threat exposure management) framework therefore prescribes a non-stop, five-step cycle of scoping, asset discovery, threat prioritisation, risk validation and mobilisation of resources to remediate vulnerabilities. Implemented successfully, this model provides a unified, comprehensive and risk-based approach to attack surface management, security testing and vulnerability management.
But if CTEM is to fully live up to its name, then the hunt for vulnerabilities across your exposed vectors should also be continuous – and indeed deep, broad and flexible.
Enter, Bug Bounty Programs, which are rapidly scalable, operate without interruption and reliably surface vulnerabilities missed by pentests and automated scans.
This article outlines multiple benefits of tightly integrating Bug Bounty Programs with other testing mechanisms and attack surface management.
CTEM series so far
It concludes a four-part series on the CTEM cycle, with the first three instalments outlining the five steps of CTEM:
CTEM series #1: mapping your exposed vectors (scoping and discovery)
Three quarters (74%) of cybersecurity leaders have experienced security incidents due to unknown or unmanaged assets, according to Trend Micro research. The importance of CTEM’s first two steps – scoping and continuously discovering your internet-facing assets – is clear.
CTEM series #2: Vulnerability prioritisation and validation
A confluence of alarming trends makes the prioritisation phase increasingly vital: the unstoppable increase in unique vulnerabilities, shrinking time-to-exploitation and SecOps teams’ capacity to typically only patch 10% of known vulnerabilities in their environment each month. This article explains how YesWeHack’s attack surface management (ASM) solution generates automated priority scores to help security teams prioritise the most critical vulnerabilities and validate findings.
CTEM series #3: mobilisation and remediation
Learn how the mobilisation step operationalises information gathered about validated vulnerabilities so that SecOps teams can direct resources to remediating the highest-priority bugs first, addressing the rest in a timely fashion, and retesting fixes to ensure their effectiveness. Also find out how remediation generates insights that can facilitate secure development and optimise future CTEM cycles.
Bringing the power of crowdsourced security to CTEM
Our platform brings the power of crowdsourced security to CTEM – and the continuous offensive testing necessary to implement the model with maximum effectiveness.
But it’s not just their ongoing nature that makes Bug Bounty Programs an invaluable last line of defence in depth. Bug Bounty hunters can also discover complex vulnerabilities, novel exploitation techniques and vulnerability chains that elude traditional pentests.
Why? First, they deploy the same hacking techniques as real attackers. Second, they are – unlike traditional pentesters – unconstrained by time limits, so they can fully exercise their creativity. And third, the talent pool is deep and broad: with more than 100,000 hunters on YesWeHack, there’s always someone with the right skills for any given scope.
As a pair of security executives from global energy giant and YesWeHack customer NOV have said about their Bug Bounty Program: “Some of the most serious bugs were found in apps that had already been through internal testing and multiple safeguards… That’s exactly why layered defence matters. Bug bounty adds an outside-in perspective that other layers can’t replicate.”
This external, unique perspective ensures the CTEM cycle is regularly fed with high-quality vulnerabilities, and that ‘continuous’ security testing isn’t just of the automated kind – it’s also informed by real attacker behaviour.
Human intelligence as well as platform features
Hunters also provide invaluable vulnerability intel, such as Proofs of Concept (PoCs), impact assessments and remediation suggestions. Our hunters are incentivised by a points-based system, which unlocks fresh hacking opportunities, to respond promptly and clearly to any follow-up questions.
This intelligence helps security teams make the right decisions at the individual vulnerability level on prioritisation, validation and mobilisation. Patterns can also emerge from all bug reports, across all testing mechanisms, that lead to productive optimisation of testing coverage, reconfiguration of cyber defences and more targeted developer training.
A YesWeHack Bug Bounty Program brings additional support for setting scopes, reward grids and testing conditions through a dedicated customer success manager (CSM), and for prioritising bugs thanks to our in-house triage evaluations.
Whether its actionable intel about vulnerabilities or advice about adding overlooked scopes, these human insights can help SecOp teams optimise subsequent CTEM cycles and accelerate remediation while reducing noise.
Synergies of a single pane of glass
Bug Bounty Programs are one of multiple sources of vulnerability reports that are consolidated into a single, unified interface:
- Bug Bounty Programs
- Pentest campaign management
- Continuous Pentesting
- Vulnerability Disclosure Policies (VDPs)
- Automated CVE scanning, supported by the latest in-the-wild vulnerability data, such as affected vendors, detection tools, public exploits and patches
- Security Check – continuous, automated testing that validates that the most impactful CVEs and potential misconfigurations are not present on selected assets
Presented in standardised formats through a ‘single pane of glass’, findings from these sources give security teams a one-stop-shop for editing, assigning and tracking vulnerabilities. Workflows are further streamlined by integrations with popular bug-tracking tools.
The upshot is less time wasted switching between tools, duplicate reports being spotted faster, seamless communication between internal and external stakeholders, traceability from discovery to remediation, and reduced time-to-fix.
The YesWeHack dashboard features an ‘Asset Coverage’ feature whose insights can be operationalised to achieve defence in depth across your entire attack surface. Security teams can see present or previous deployments of various testing methods across different assets, and the coverage percentage split overall and by specific assets.
Powerful platform features like this, allied with responsive support from YesWeHack teams and the continuous availability of more than 100,000 security researchers, equals a compelling CTEM implementation and a foundation for a more proactive security posture.
Bug Bounty brings unparalleled human ingenuity to a model that leverages automation to achieve consistent risk reduction at scale. Enriching the CTEM feedback loop with real attacker insights, bug hunters help SecOps teams continually refine prioritisation models, asset coverage and risk validation – and keep pace with the fast-evolving threat landscape.
Start securing your growing attack surface today
YesWeHack’s turnkey-deployable ASM can provide the missing link in your offensive security strategy by providing:
- Continuous visibility of your true digital footprint – mapping internet-facing assets and exposed dependencies
- Continuous visibility of your organisation’s exposure to known vulnerabilities within the Vulnerability Center
- Automated prioritisation of vulnerabilities based on an easy-to-understand algorithm – accounting for severity (CVSS), in-the-wild exploitability (EPSS) and asset criticality (assigned by the security team)
- Strategised security testing and remediation to tackle the most critical vulnerabilities at scale
Schedule a demo with YesWeHack today and discover how a risk-based approach can transform your organisation's security strategy.
