Social media is a growing platform that has expanded from personal sharing and engagement to communication and commerce. Businesses of all sizes are now looking into protecting themselves against social media threats, from data leaks to malware links. To effectively manage these threats, cybersecurity teams can go above and beyond reactive measures. This is where CTEM- Continuous Threat Exposure Management is more effective.

CTEM is a reliable cybersecurity framework that helps businesses to identify, assess and remediate potential threats across digital systems. Let’s look into how CTEM can help to support practical cybersecurity strategies and be an effective social media platform. 

The Rise of Social Media Threat Vectors

The world of digital isn’t only confined to firewalls and endpoints. Social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter (X), Facebook and Instagram are seen as grounds of attraction for cybercriminals. These platforms are used for:

• Phishing attacks, which are disguised as customer support messages
• Brand impersonation to deceive follows and customers
• Data harvesting from public accounts
• Malware dissemination through malicious links sent via direct messages. 

According to a report by the World Economic Forum, social media attacks have increased as businesses are continuing to use social media to reach audiences, which can cause cybersecurity issues. The increased risk of this reflects how employees must be aware of these types of attacks and ensure that no sensitive information is exposed. 

The Role of CTEM in Combating Social Media Threats

Many traditional cybersecurity platforms can sometimes not be as effective as newer methods. CTEM, short for Continuous Threat Exposure Management, helps security teams operate with an attacker’s mindset and scan for exposure and vulnerabilities within business systems. 

The use of automation and continuous validation, CTEM, can ensure organisations can:

• Identify any exposed assets on social media, such as fake accounts or direct messages
• Simulate attack scenarios to ensure systems can stay protected.
• Prioritising remediation efforts based on a business risk.
• Measure security systems to demonstrate any progress.

The support of CTEM can ensure threats are being expired and reduce any attacks from surfacing before consequences occur. 

Real-World Use Case: Fake Executive Profiles

Fake profiles are a rising threat on social media platforms, including LinkedIn and Twitter. These accounts often trick employees and customers into sharing sensitive data or clicking on malicious links. However, a CTEM framework can monitor social media platforms for these impersonations and stimulate phishing attacks to assess employee responses. 

By doing this, CTEM can highlight system vulnerabilities and ensure systems are proactively secure against cyberattacks. 

Integrating CTEM Into a Broader Cybersecurity Strategy

CTEM isn’t just a replacement for security systems; it’s a multiplier. This means CTEM can be combined with SIEM, EDR and vulnerability scanners to offer context-rich elements for business operations to stay protected. 

Some Key Integrations Include:

• SOC operations: Integrating CTEM findings into the Security Operations Center to ensure workflows are faster and more effective. 
• Security Training: Using CTEM-generated insights to offer employee training before exposures and attacks occur.
• Third-party risk management: To ensure there are evaluations of how partners and vendors use social media, which may impact security practices.

If your team is already aware of solutions such as penetration testing or breach and attack simulation (BAS), CTEM is the next step to enhance the effectiveness of security support. 

Proactive Defense Is the New Normal

Within the world of social media, cybersecurity posture is not always effective. Threat actors are now taking extra steps to obtain sensitive information. Your defenses should be adaptive and threat-informed to ensure systems stay protected.

By implementing CTEM, businesses can close the gap between security operations and exposure management. As this brings clarity to the growing landscape of social media and cybersecurity whilst ensuring outcomes are managed correctly. 

Conclusion: 

Social media is now a channel that helps businesses grow and is used worldwide, but it is also a breeding ground for cybersecurity risks. However, these risks can be managed and mitigated through proactive approaches such as CTEM.

Whether you’re looking to protect your business brand from impersonation or evaluate the exposure across social platforms, CTEM offers support for scalable business operations.