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A Day in the Life of a Security Analyst
Brad is the lead Security Analyst for a midsize financial organization. Every day, he faces the overwhelming challenge of keeping his organization safe from an endless stream of new vulnerabilities. With nearly 600 new CVEs emerging weekly, roughly one every 17 minutes, Brad’s job has never been more demanding.
More and more often, Brad’s team receives alerts for vulnerabilities with publicly available proof-of-concept (PoC) exploits. As the time between PoC publication and actual exploitation is now reduced to mere minutes, Brad knows he must act fast. Deciding which vulnerabilities to prioritize feels like finding a needle in a haystack. Brad reviews the CVSS scores and goes through alerts. Without a better understanding of how these are relevant in his company’s context, it is hard to distinguish immediate threats from low-priority issues.Brad faces a monumental challenge: without precise prioritization, the risk of exploitation grows exponentially. The consequences of delays are not theoretical. The widely reported Snowflake breach cascading catastrophe is still seared in his mind. It could have hit them too.
Brads Daily Trials
1. An Endless Stream of Vulnerabilities
Every day, Brad’s team is bombarded with new vulnerabilities. Many of these vulnerabilities are a ticking clock. They already have PoC exploits circulating, and waiting to see if they will be targeted is not an option. Since last February budget cuts at the National Vulnerability Database (NVD) their backlogs have exploded, and Brad’s resources have not increased. Still, if, among the thousands public PoC exploits out there, he misses the one that could be used where he works, he would be held responsible.
Data Box: The National Vulnerability Database reports that 93.4% of newly reported vulnerabilities await analysis, with 82% already having publicly available proof-of-concept exploits. (NVD)
Brad is not alone in struggling with prioritization challenges. The issue has become so significant that CISA introduced the "Vulnrichment" program to help mitigate delays in updating the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. They do their best to enrich vulnerability entries with additional context, including real-world exploitability data and threat actor behaviors. While this initiative is a step in the right direction, it is still far from a comprehensive solution, and security teams like Brad’s still have to deal with a substantial backlog.
2. Patching Delays
Even when Brad’s team identifies critical vulnerabilities, they can’t fix them all at once. Industry-wide, it takes security teams an average of 55 days to patch half of critical vulnerabilities. Meanwhile, Brad knows that around 8 of those remain exploitable for a year or longer. That puts them at risk. Brad knows it, but there is little he can do about it.
Data Box: “It takes around 55 days to remediate 50% of critical vulnerabilities, with 8% remaining open after a full year.” (Verizon DBIR)
3. Faster Exploitation Timelines
Threat actors are working faster than ever. Exploitation of CISA KEV-listed vulnerabilities begins just five days after disclosure, compared to 68 days for non-KEV vulnerabilities. This compressed timeline puts immense pressure on Brad’s team to identify and address critical threats quickly.
Data Box: “First exploitation occurs within 5 days for CISA KEV-listed vulnerabilities, compared to 68 days for others.” (Verizon DBIR)
4. Static Scoring Systems Fall Short
If only CVSS scores were dependable. They do give some valuable information, but Brad learned the hard way that they lack real-time context. Without an accurate evaluation of the likelihood of active exploitation, Brad and his team are drowning in false positives. Between sheer exhaustion and alert fatigue, real alerts might, and probably will sometimes, go unnoticed.
“CVSS scores provide a starting point but fail to incorporate real-world exploitation trends, leaving security teams vulnerable to active threats and false positives.” (IANS Research)
The Magic DVE Intelligence Wand
One day, Brad heard about Dynamic Vulnerability Exploit (DVE) Intelligence by Cybersixgill. He somehow convinced his CISO to try it. This is what it said on the box:
Real-Time Threat Context
DVE Intelligence integrates real-time Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) from clear web to underground forums, dark web chatter, invite-only messaging groups, and active threat actor movements.
For Brad, this would mean no more guesswork. With exact information about which vulnerabilities are being discussed and exploited, he would finally be able to focus on real risks.
Automation Across the CVE Lifecycle
Manual triage has always been a bottleneck for Brad’s team. With DVE Intelligence, tasks like CVE-CPE matching and TTP correlation are automated, speeding up the identification of relevant vulnerabilities.
Dynamic Risk Prioritization
DVE Intelligence redefines how Brad’s team prioritizes vulnerabilities. Instead of wading through endless alerts, they now rely on dynamic scoring based on real-world exploitation data.
And it is superbly delivered!For Brad, it eliminated guesswork. With a dramatic reduction in the time spent dealing with low-priority threats, Brad’s mitigation schedule can finally correspond to real risk levels. With a sensible and manageable patching load, the IT team does not hate Brad anymore.
A Collaborative Transformation
DVE Intelligence doesn’t just help Brad; it transforms how his entire organization approaches cybersecurity:
For Vulnerability Analysts: Detailed context reduces false positives and rationalizes triage.
For SOC Teams: Enriched alerts cut through noise, highlighting genuine risks.
For Threat Hunters: Integrated timelines identify potential attack vectors.
For Compliance Teams: Automated documentation simplifies audits and demonstrates measurable risk reduction.
Cybersixgill’s Role
At the forefront of modern vulnerability management, Cybersixgill’s DVE Intelligence identifies and mitigates risks with beyond compare speed and precision. It processes data from over 1,000 underground sources and monitors over 200,000 vulnerabilities. And delivers the resulting insight within 60 seconds.
Features That Drive Results
Independence from NVD data
Provides the earliest and most accurate warning of a CVE being exploited over the next 90 days, hours after it is published, to make more informed decisions for prioritizing remediation activities.
Asset-specific context
Maps CVEs and their risk scores to your unique portfolio of organizational assets. Unlike the common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS), our vulnerability risk scores are updated in real-time and reflect threat actor activity as it changes.
Includes open source vulnerabilities
Incorporates insights from OSV.dev, giving security teams visibility of vulnerabilities present in open-source tools and programs.
Comprehensive and Seamless Integration
Cybersixgill’s platform caters to enterprises, MSSPs, and GSIs. Whether accessed through a SaaS Investigative Portal, robust APIs, or seamless integrations with existing security tools, DVE Intelligence ensures that organizations can operationalize threat intelligence efficiently and effectively.
Cybersixgill’s solutions empower security teams to turn overwhelming data into actionable insights, providing the clarity and confidence needed to defend against evolving threats.
Read more: Explore Cybersixgill DVE Intelligence
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