Cybersecurity Data

What is Cybersecurity Data?

Cybersecurity data is any information that helps security leaders and risk managers to better identify risk within an organization and its vendor network. Cybersecurity data may also include metrics and cyber risk analytics about the performance of security controls and programs.

Make More Informed Decisions with Cybersecurity Data

More companies today are actively seeking cybersecurity data that can help to measure the risk of a breach. Cyber threats continue to proliferate, growing in sophistication and severity. To avoid the cost and damage of a successful breach, security leaders need cyber risk metrics that can better identify vulnerabilities and gaps in security controls.

Bitsight can help. Bitsight Security Ratings offer a data-driven, dynamic measurement of an organization’s cybersecurity performance. Based on objective, verifiable data, Bitsight’s ratings enable continuous monitoring and assessment to help organizations make faster, more strategic decisions about cybersecurity policy and third-party risk management.

Bitsight’s Security Ratings Correlate to Breaches

Security incidents and data breaches are on the rise. Breaches originating from compromised vendors and third parties are especially prevalent. According to a recent study1, more than two-thirds of organizations have experienced a data breach as a result of vendor access. To protect their organizations, risk managers need cybersecurity data and metrics that can identify potential risks in vendor networks more effectively.

That’s where Bitsight comes in. Bitsight is the only security ratings platform proven to correlate with an organization’s likelihood of suffering a data breach. In a study that analyzed security ratings and breaches for more than 27,000 companies over a two-year period, Bitsight’s data scientists determined that companies with higher Bitsight Security Ratings are less likely to experience a publicly disclosed breach. As validated by AIR Worldwide2, companies with a Bitsight Security Rating of 500 or lower are nearly 5 times more likely to have a breach than those with a rating of 700 or above.

With cybersecurity data and Security Ratings from Bitsight, organizations can:

• Continuously monitor vendors to reduce third-party risk. Security teams can prioritize which vendors need additional assessment and communicate with vendors to ensure that issues are being addressed.
• Benchmark their security performance. Risk managers can more easily communicate with executives and the board about what ratings mean and what they suggest for priorities and investments. Security leaders can remediate issues with detailed cybersecurity forensics to reduce the risk of a breach.
• Monitor merger and acquisition targets. Bitsight Security Ratings enable M&A teams to identify security problems at any time throughout the M&A process from discovery through due diligence and purchase.

1Bomgar 2017 Secure Access Threat Rep 2http://www.air-worldwide.com/Publications/Infographics/Global-Cyber-Resilience

Bitsight Security Ratings

Bitsight has been analyzing the security performance of organizations since 2011. Today, Bitsight is the most widely used security ratings platform across all industries.

Bitsight Security Ratings are based on analysis of vast amounts of data related to security issues. Derived from more than 120 externally verifiable data sources, Bitsight daily ratings provide immediate insight into the security performance of an organization and the security posture of its vendors.

Bitsight Security ratings are based on four data categories.

• Compromised systems. These include potentially exploited machines or devices that are infected with botnets, that are malware servers, or that are sending large amounts of unwanted email.
• Diligence. Diligence records document the actions a company has taken to prevent attacks. Bitsight gathers cybersecurity data on open ports, TLS/SSL certificates, web application headers, patching cadence, insecure systems, domain squatting, and more.
• User behavior. Bitsight examines activities that may introduce malicious software onto a corporate network. For instance, evidence of exposed credentials and software shared via peer-to-peer exchange protocols may affect a company’s security ratings.
• Public disclosures. Bitsight collects information about publicly disclosed breaches and interruptions to business continuity.

The Benefits of Bitsight’s Cybersecurity Data

Bitsight Security Ratings can help security leaders manage risk and improve security performance throughout the organization.

In third-party risk management, Bitsight helps to expose cyber risk within the supply chain, enabling third-party risk managers to work with vendors to achieve significant and measurable risk reduction. With Bitsight, risk managers have clear and immediate visibility into the risk posture of each vendor, helping to accelerate onboarding, enhance business enablement, and reduce cyber risk throughout the third-party network.

In security performance management. Bitsight enables security and risk leaders to measure the performance of their programs and align investments with the actions that will have the most impact over time. With Bitsight, security professionals can more effectively allocate limited resources to the areas of highest risk within the organization. With timely, accurate cybersecurity data, security leaders can answer cybersecurity questions from the board and C-suite and facilitate data-driven conversations about risk and security.

Why Rely on Security Data from Bitsight?

An industry-leading solution

Bitsight is the world’s leading provider of cyber risk intelligence, transforming how security leaders manage and mitigate risk. Leveraging the most comprehensive external data and analytics, Bitsight empowers organizations to make confident, data-backed decisions and equips security and compliance teams from over 3,300 organizations across 70+ countries with the tools to proactively detect exposures and take immediate action to protect their enterprises and supply chains. Bitsight customers include 38% of Fortune 500 companies, 4 of the top 5 investment banks, and 180+ government agencies and quasi-governmental authorities, including U.S. and global financial regulators.

Extensive visibility

Bitsight operates one of the largest risk datasets in the world. Leveraging over 10 years of experience collecting, attributing, and assessing risk across millions of entities, we combine the power of AI with the curation of technical researchers to unlock an unparalleled view of your organization. Bitsight offers more complete visibility into important risk areas such as botnets, mobile apps, IoT systems, and more. Our cyber data collection and scanning capabilities include:

• 40 million+ monitored entities
• 540 billion+ cyber events in our data lake
• 4 billion+ routable IP addresses 
• 500 million+ domains monitored
• 400 billion+ events ingested daily
• 12+ months of historical data

Superior analytics

Bitsight offers a full analytics suite that addresses the challenges of peer comparison, digital risk exposure, and future performance.

Ratings validation

Bitsight is the only rating solution with third-party validation of correlation to breach from AIR Worldwide and IHS Markit.

Quantifiable outcomes

Bitsight drives proven ROI with significant operational efficiency and risk reduction outcomes.

Prioritization of risk vectors

Bitsight incorporates the criticality of risk vectors in to calculation of Security Ratings, highlighting risk in a more diversified way to ensure the most critical assets and vulnerabilities are ranked higher.

FAQs: What is Cybersecurity Data?