The CTEM Divide: Why 84% of Security Programs Are Falling Behind

A 2026 market intelligence study of 128 enterprise security decision-makers reveals a sharp divide between organizations that have adopted Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) and those that haven't. Only 16% have implemented CTEM despite 87% awareness, yet adopters show 50% better attack surface visibility and 23-point higher solution adoption rates. The research highlights that attack rates rise steeply once organizations manage more than 100 domains, exposing a 'visibility gap' that traditional periodic security controls cannot address. With breach costs averaging $4.44M and stricter PCI DSS 4.0.1 requirements, the data argues that manual oversight becomes inadequate beyond a certain complexity threshold, making CTEM adoption a boardroom-level priority.