Overcoming staffing shortages with Cybersixgill’s AI-driven reporting

Organizations of all sizes have increasingly recognized the value of cyber threat intelligence (CTI) in anticipating potential attacks and taking appropriate preventive measures. Both internal security teams and managed security services providers (MSSPs) are implementing CTI programs to strengthen their cyber-readiness.

Yet a recent report^[1] of thousands of cybersecurity professionals working for corporations or MSSPs listed several challenges their teams face in acting upon those CTI insights. Among the top factors were “lack of interoperability with cybersecurity tools,” “lack of funding,” and “lack of time.” 

But the primary obstacle to executing a successful threat intelligence process – cited by 44% of respondents – was a “lack of trained staff or lack of skills to fully utilize CTI.”

Of course, understaffing diminishes the effectiveness of cybersecurity teams in general. Unfortunately, the skills shortage in cybersecurity is a long-term problem that is likely to continue for years to come. In this instance, the understaffing means there’s a gap between the often-plentiful CTI information available to organizations and the security teams’ ability to collect, analyze, and act upon that information. 

A new reporting feature from Cybersixgill can help close that gap, using generative AI and automation to handle several security-team functions. Our new IQ Report Generator harnesses Cybersixgill IQ, our generative AI offering, to create both high-level and deep, technical reports within minutes.

IQ Report Generator does away with the cumbersome manual processes that many internal teams and MSSPs use to assemble CTI data. Because IQ Report Generator employs the user-friendly query structure common to generative AI tools, even junior-level team members can zero in on relevant threat intelligence without having deep cybersecurity expertise. Users can set relevant parameters for the CTI they wish to gather, including time limitations, report format, and intended audiences, and compile a structured, in-depth CTI report in minutes rather than hours.

But that’s just the beginning of IQ Report Generator’s benefits. With pooled CTI and cybersecurity-tailored generative AI, this Cybersixgill feature can provide insights and recommendations for remediation. The deliverables IQ Report Generator can produce include:

• Risk-assessment reports – assessing overall cybersecurity risk, potential impact, and mitigation strategiesThreat intelligence briefings – assessing key threat trends, emerging threats, and their potential impact on the organization

• Incident response reports – including indicators of compromise, attack timelines, affected systems, and recommended actions

• Post-incident reports – summarizing lessons learned, recommendations to improve, and strategies to prevent future incidents

• Vendor risk reports – highlighting the risks from third-party vendors and informing decision-making

With the worldwide shortage in needed cybersecurity employees now at 4 million^[2], several creative, automated approaches will be needed to help organizations protect themselves. Cybersixgill’s IQ Report Generator was created in part to help address that employee shortage, allowing security teams to spend their time on more strategic cyber defense activities rather than creating reports. 

To learn more about IQ Report Generator, sign up for a demo of this new feature. Or get in touch with us to discuss how Cybersixgill’s comprehensive solutions can help your organization close the workforce gap.

^[1]“SANS 2023 CTI Survey: Keeping Up with a Changing Landscape,” July 2023, p. 13.

^[2] “Cybersecurity workforce shortage reaches 4 million despite significant recruitment drive,” Oct. 31, 2023, CSO.