The Rise of CTEM - Why AI Demands a New Approach to Security

What happens when your organisation adopts AI faster than your security strategy can keep up?Welcome to Razorwire, the podcast where we share our take on the world of cybersecurity with direct, practical advice for professionals and business owners alike. I'm Jim, and in this episode, I'm joined by Martin Voelk, penetration tester and AI red teamer, and Jonathan Care, lead analyst covering the intersection of AI, cybersecurity and identity.We started out planning to talk about the rise of CTEM (Continuous Threat Exposure Management) and why traditional pentesting and vulnerability scanning can't keep up anymore. But the conversation quickly went further than that, into the real security risks of AI agents, prompt injection, vibe coding and the speed at which organisations are adopting AI without thinking about what happens when it goes wrong. Martin shares examples from his red teaming work of how AI agents can be tricked into exfiltrating data and executing malicious code, Jonathan makes the case for why identity needs to become a first class attack surface in any CTEM programme; and all three of us end up genuinely concerned about what happens when CISOs are expected to govern technology that's moving faster than anyone can keep up with. This one ended up not going quite as planned, and it's all the better for it.Three key talking points:Why traditional security testing can't keep up with AI and agent-driven attacks: Annual pentests and periodic vulnerability scans were built for a world where things changed slowly. Martin and Jonathan explain why that model is no longer suitable when new AI vulnerabilities are emerging daily, most of them without a CVE number attached, and why CTEM as a continuous programme rather than a one-off exercise is becoming essential.How prompt injection and invisible exploits are rewriting the rules of risk: Martin shares examples from his red teaming work where AI agents were tricked into exfiltrating data through a fake spellchecker and downloading malicious code disguised as a support tool. He and Jonathan discuss why prompt injections are so difficult to defend against, how they can be hidden in emails, PDFs, code and even voice, and why traditional security tools don't detect them.What CISOs and tech leaders must face as responsibility and risk escalate: Organisations are adopting AI faster than security teams can govern it, and CISOs are caught between being seen as obstructionist if they slow things down or negligent if they let things through. Jonathan and Martin get into the legal grey areas around who's responsible when an AI agent causes harm and why the lack of clear legislation makes this even harder to navigate.If your organisation is adopting AI and your security model hasn't changed to match, this is a conversation worth listening to. On why traditional security testing no longer works:“You have new releases and new technology popping up almost on a daily basis. And you have vulnerabilities popping up on a daily basis as well. The traditional model we have in place with regular penetration testing, once every three months, once every year, that doesn't cut it anymore.”Martin VoelkListen to this episode on your favourite podcasting platform: https://razorwire.captivate.fm/listenIn this episode, we covered the following topics:The Acceleration of AI Adoption Find out why organisations are pushing AI adoption at a pace that's leaving security teams behind and why the pressure from upper management to automate is creating serious blind spots.Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) Evolution Learn why CTEM is a programme not a product, how it differs from traditional vulnerability management and why it focuses on what an attacker can actually exploit right now rather than theoretical CVE scores.Limitations of Traditional Security Testing Understand why annual pentests and periodic vulnerability scans were built for a different era and why they can't keep up with a landscape where new AI vulnerabilities emerge daily.The Changing Nature of Exploits Discover why many of the attacks hitting AI systems don't have a CVE associated with them at all, and why the traditional model of scoring and prioritising vulnerabilities is falling short.Prompt Injection Risks Learn how prompt injections work, why they can be embedded in almost anything from emails and PDFs to code comments and voice, and why they're so difficult to defend against compared to traditional injection attacks.Agentic AI and Chained Attacks Find out why compromising a single AI agent in an orchestrated system can have a knock-on effect across the entire ecosystem, and why the blast radius is far greater than with traditional vulnerabilities.Visibility and Explainability Understand why maintaining oversight of AI systems matters, why security teams risk rubber-stamping AI-driven decisions they don't fully understand and why explainability is becoming a critical requirement.Supply Chain and Third-Party AI Concerns Explore how the use of open source models, third-party AI agents and tools like OpenClaw is exposing organisations to indirect vulnerabilities they may not even know about.Identity as the New Attack Surface Learn why misconfigured identities, over-privileged service accounts and weak authentication between AI agents are becoming primary targets, and why CTEM programmes need to treat identity as a first class concern.Regulatory and Legal Accountability Find out why jurisdictions are still divided on who's responsible when an AI agent causes harm, from the Air Canada chatbot ruling to the question of what accountability looks like when AI is making autonomous decisions.Resources Mentioned GartnerOpenClawPCI DSSTenableNessusAnthropicClaudeClaude Secure CodeGroqAir Canada - AI LawsuitEngineering Council of Great Britain11 LabsVoiceboxSpartanX TechnologiesSpartanX AIMexican Government CyberattackConnect with your host James ReesHello, I am James Rees, the host of the Razorwire podcast. This podcast brings you insights from leading cyber security professionals who dedicate their careers to making a hacker’s life that much more difficult.Our guests bring you experience and expertise from a range of disciplines and from different career stages. We give you various viewpoints for improving your cyber security – from seasoned professionals with years of experience, triumphs and lessons learned under their belt, to those in relatively early stages of their careers offering fresh eyes and new insights.With new episodes every other Wednesday, Razorwire is a podcast for cyber security enthusiasts and professionals providing insights, news and fresh ideas on protecting your organisation from hackers.For more information about us or if you have any questions you would like us to discuss email [email protected] you need consultation, visit www.razorthorn.com, We give our clients a personalised, integrated approach to information security, driven by our belief in quality and discretion.LinkedIn: Razorthorn SecurityYouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/RazorthornSecurity" rel="noopener...