What Kenna Helped Start – and Where Exposure Management Goes Next
by Brad Hibbert, COO & CSO//6 min read/
Cisco’s recent end-of-life announcement for Cisco Vulnerability Management, formerly Kenna Security, marks an important moment for many security organizations.
For years, Kenna helped teams move beyond raw vulnerability counts toward risk-based prioritization. Many programs matured under that model, improving focus, reducing noise, and creating better discipline around remediation.
But as environments, threats, and business expectations have continued to evolve, so have the questions security leaders need to answer.
Today, teams are no longer focused only on which vulnerabilities to fix first. They are being asked to understand where the organization is truly exposed, which issues matter most to the business, and how risk is changing across infrastructure, cloud, applications, identity, and external attack surfaces.
This moment is not just about replacing a tool. It’s an opportunity to reflect on how Exposure Management has evolved – and what it needs to become next.
From Risk-Based Vulnerability Management to Exposure Management
Risk-based vulnerability management was a meaningful step forward. It helped organizations focus effort, improve efficiency, and make progress against growing vulnerability backlogs.
But modern enterprises now face challenges that extend well beyond CVEs. Assets are dynamic, identities are everywhere, and findings come from many overlapping security tools. Executives increasingly expect security teams to explain risk in business terms, not technical metrics.
In this context, vulnerabilities are signals – not the full picture. The real issue is exposure.
Why Exposure Management Requires a Different Approach
Exposure Management and Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) require capabilities traditional vulnerability platforms were not designed to deliver. Organizations need continuous asset visibility, correlation across domains, business and ownership context, explainable prioritization, and long-term risk trending.
Brinqa was built for this reality.
Brinqa’s Approach to Modern Exposure Management
Brinqa was not created as an extension of a scanner or tied to a single security vendor. It was built as a vendor-agnostic, standalone Exposure Management platform – designed to evolve as environments change.
That foundation is what has enabled Brinqa to help lead the market’s shift from vulnerability management toward Exposure Management and CTEM.
What Sets Brinqa Apart
Asset-centric by design
Brinqa models risk around what organizations own, including infrastructure, cloud resources, applications, identities, and external attack surfaces – not just vulnerabilities.
Focused on exposure, not just scoring
Rather than relying on a single opaque score, Brinqa correlates vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, threat intelligence, asset criticality, business context, and exposure pathways to deliver meaningful prioritization.
Explainable and extensible
Security teams can understand why something is risky, who owns it, and how to reduce it – and can adapt the model as their environment evolves.
Built for CTEM
Brinqa aligns naturally to the CTEM lifecycle, including scoping, discovery, prioritization, validation, and mobilization.
Supporting Organizations Transitioning from Kenna
For organizations impacted by the Kenna end-of-life announcement, continuity and confidence matter.
Brinqa works with customers to:
- Preserve existing vulnerability scanner investments
- Ingest and normalize historical data
- Maintain continuity in reporting
- Evolve programs without disruption
This is not a rip-and-replace exercise, it is an evolution.
Many teams start by strengthening asset visibility and prioritization, then expand into broader Exposure Management across cloud applications, code repositories, and identity over time.
Stability, Continuity, and Long-Term Direction
As organizations reassess their vulnerability management programs, stability and long-term vision matter.
Brinqa continues to invest in its Exposure Management platform, expanding coverage across security domains, improving data scale and performance, and partnering closely with customers to shape roadmap priorities. Brinqa is committed to being a long-term partner – not just a short-term replacement.
Moving Forward with Confidence
For current Kenna customers evaluating next steps, this is an opportunity to take a fresh look at how exposure is managed across the environment.
Modernizing technology and programs can involve some change and some discomfort. But that effort is far less painful than the impact of a material breach driven by unseen or misunderstood exposure.
Brinqa invites organizations to explore how Exposure Management and CTEM can help them move forward with confidence – not just to replace what they had, but to build what comes next.
Connect with a Brinqa Expert
The transition after Kenna doesn’t have to be disruptive. It can be an opportunity to strengthen how exposure is understood and managed across the enterprise.
If you’re ready to explore what the next phase of exposure management could look like, connect with Brinqa to see how teams are building toward that future.
