CTEM isn’t failing. It’s not being operationalized
Brief
Cybersecurity is full of frameworks, regulations, and directives that tell organizations what they should do. Zero Trust, NIST, CIS Controls, CMMC, DORA, NIS2, and now Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) all provide valuable guidance and describe desired outcomes.
The challenge is that most stop at the “what.” They rarely explain the “how.”
That is not a criticism. It is by design. Frameworks establish principles, define expectations, and describe desired outcomes. They are not implementation guides.
As a result, security leaders and practitioners are left figuring out how to translate principles into processes, assign ownership, establish accountability, and measure success. Those decisions often determine whether a framework delivers results or becomes another initiative that never moves beyond good intentions.