Continuous Risk and Trust Assessment (CARTA) is a new approach to security and risk management. It replaces the block/allow binary that is used by traditional security solutions. CARTA builds atop the Zero Trust framework, which advocates a default-deny posture and the idea that access should be based on context. This means, fewer security interventions for users and less time wasted by security staff.

Continuous Risk and Trust Assessment Carta Frramework

With the growing complexity of business networks, and the sophistication of cyber attacks, traditional security measures are no longer sufficient. To meet these challenges, businesses must adopt a new approach. This new framework is called Continuous Adaptive Risk and Trust Assessment (CARTA). It’s a revolutionary shift in the way that businesses manage their cybersecurity risks and build trust in their digital ecosystem. CARTA Continuous Risk and Trust Assessment  goes beyond role-based access control (RBAC) to enable context-aware security assessment in real time. It also enables businesses to quickly identify and remediate risks, including zero-day threats and insider threats. By taking a proactive and dynamic approach to security, businesses can better protect themselves from threats and build stronger, more trustworthy relationships with their customers and employees.

In addition to providing a powerful security framework, CARTA helps businesses meet increasing demand for transparency and accountability in the face of data breaches and cyber attacks. By ensuring that their security posture is constantly evolving and aligned with their business objectives, CARTA provides a transparent framework for businesses to communicate their security posture to their stakeholders. The key to implementing CARTA is continuous discovery, monitoring and assessment. This is a fundamental part of the Zero Trust approach, which requires that every user and device be evaluated, not just once at the gate, but continuously, in near-real time. The more regularly this evaluation is done, the quicker anomalies can be detected and responded to.

Continuous Risk and Trust Assessment (CARTA) is a strategic approach to security and risk management.

Continuous adaptive risk and trust assessment, or CARTA, is a strategic approach to security and risk management that Gartner has been advocating since 2017. The framework helps organizations standardize agility and enable contextual awareness. It also helps enterprises evaluate vendors to determine how well they can meet organizational security requirements.

Unlike traditional security solutions that use a binary block/allow approach to determine risk, the CARTA Continuous Risk and Trust Assessment framework goes beyond authentication to assess risks on a continuous basis. This provides a more effective and efficient way to secure data and applications. It can help organizations achieve their Zero Trust goals by ensuring that they don’t allow unfettered access to sensitive information. For example, if an employee logs on from a public Wi-Fi network and tries to download a file with sensitive data, the CARTA framework can assess the risk and determine whether the user should be allowed or blocked. It then takes the appropriate action, such as blocking the download or notifying the IT team about the incident.

The CARTA framework also includes an assessment phase that focuses on identifying potential security risks during the application build phase. This is  a critical component of DevOps and allows security teams to identify issues before they reach production. This can help prevent vulnerabilities from being exploited by attackers and avoid costly breaches.

CARTA is based on Gartner’s Adaptive Security Architecture

A new approach to cybersecurity has been gaining traction in the industry, and it is known as continuous risk and trust assessment or CARTA. It is based on the Zero Trust model, which assumes that no device or user can be trusted. In this way, businesses can identify and manage security risks. The CARTA process also helps ensure that the security posture aligns with business objectives.

CARTA recommends that organizations continuously evaluate users and devices, using intelligent analytics to detect anomalies in real time. This allows them to avoid unnecessary and costly security interventions and respond faster to security incidents. It is a highly effective way to address security risks, and it  can help to minimize the impact of threats. Unlike traditional block-and-allow security solutions, which rely on one-time risk-based decisions, CARTA provides the ability to make dynamic, contextual security decisions that take into account the type of device, the person’s identity, their location, and other factors. This is more effective than a static block/allow model, which could potentially backfire with insider attacks or other risky behaviors that can’t be detected by MFA.

CARTA is a continuous approach to security and risk management

Achieving security with CARTA means that you constantly evaluate all users and devices, making contextual access decisions. It is rooted in the Zero Trust framework, which advocates that no user or device should be inherently trusted, even if they are already within your network. This ensures that only those with the highest priority are allowed to continue working in sensitive networks. It also protects against attackers exploiting accounts that have less visibility or security.

Today, businesses offer digital services that are accessible to consumers from many locations and on a wide range of devices. This creates new challenges for companies, especially when it comes to protecting data from attacks. These attacks can  result in massive financial losses and tarnish brand repute. However, cybersecurity professionals can implement the CARTA model to address these challenges and reduce the risk of attack. In addition to continuous evaluations, CARTA also allows organizations to prioritize and protect critical assets. It uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to detect suspicious activity that may be indicative of a threat. It can also provide alerts and respond automatically to potential threats.