About the Continuous Controls Monitoring category
What belongs in this category
The Continuous Controls Monitoring category covers products that check controls automatically and often, instead of once a year at audit time. Typical entries connect to systems and security tools, test each control against its requirement, such as multi-factor sign-in for every administrator or encryption on every database, alert when a control fails, and keep a record that auditors and risk teams can rely on.
Managing compliance programs and preparing for audits fits Compliance Automation; a compliance platform whose automated control tests are a core strength can enter both. Testing controls by simulating attacks fits Adversarial Exposure Validation (AEV), and wider risk and compliance platforms fit Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC). One view of posture across security tools fits Cybersecurity Posture Management, and a product that also measures the program for leaders can enter Cybersecurity Performance Management.
Related categories to enter
Each category is judged separately, so you can enter a product in every category that matches what it does, with a separate nomination for each. Tailor each nomination to that category's focus. Entering several related categories gives the product more than one chance to be recognized.
How entries are judged
An independent jury of security practitioners, analysts and CISOs scores each nomination on leadership, innovation and impact. Each nomination competes in its category against organizations of similar size and region, so a mid-sized firm is not ranked against a global enterprise. Your entry package, any sponsorship and public votes do not affect the jury's scores.
Strong entries in this category show:
- Leadership — the controls the product watches: controls and systems tested, frameworks mapped, tests run each day, and customers that rely on it for assurance.
- Innovation — a controls problem solved in a new way, such as tests that need no manual evidence, failures sent to the owner who can fix them, or one test serving several frameworks.
- Impact — results for customers: control failures found and fixed between audits, evidence collection time cut, audit findings reduced. Give figures from customers.
The jury awards Gold, Silver or Bronze, or a Finalist badge, and results are published on this site and announced to the 600,000+ member Cybersecurity Insiders community. Every approved nomination also enters the separate Community Choice award, decided by public votes.
How to enter
A vendor can enter its own product or service, and a PR agency can enter it on a client's behalf. The nomination form has a confidential field for detail that is shared with the judges and not published, such as customer names, deployment figures or roadmap. Deadlines, pricing and entry steps are on the How it Works page.
