In the context of security ratings, rating efficacy refers to the effectiveness and reliability of the security rating system in accurately assessing and quantifying the security posture of a given entity, such as a company, organization, or system. The primary purpose of security ratings is to evaluate and measure an entity's cybersecurity practices and vulnerabilities to help stakeholders, including customers, partners, investors, and regulators, make informed decisions about potential risks.

Several factors determine the rating efficacy of a security rating system:

• Accuracy: The system should provide ratings aligning with the actual security performance of the evaluated entity. It should correctly identify and assess both strengths and weaknesses in the entity's security posture.

• Data Sources: The rating system should gather data from reliable and diverse sources, including public information, threat intelligence, and external assessments, to ensure a comprehensive and accurate assessment.

• Transparency: The methodology for calculating the security ratings should be transparent and understandable. Users of the ratings should have clear insights into the factors considered and the weight assigned to each element.

• Timeliness: The system should provide up-to-date ratings that reflect the current security status of the entity. Timeliness is crucial as security threats and vulnerabilities evolve rapidly.

• Scope and Coverage: To enable useful comparisons and context, the rating system should be able to evaluate a wide range of entities, including those from different industries and sizes.

• Consistency: The rating system should maintain consistency in its assessments, avoiding significant fluctuations in ratings without clear reasons.

• Benchmarking: Benchmarking an entity's security performance against its peers can enhance the ratings' usefulness and help identify improvement areas.

By continuously monitoring and improving the rating efficacy, security ratings can become valuable tools for organizations and individuals to make informed decisions about their digital risk exposure and potential security partners or vendors.

ThreatNG provides rating efficacy by leveraging its External Attack Surface Management (EASM) and Digital Risk Protection (DRP) capabilities to enhance its security ratings' accuracy, scope, and reliability. The following is how each of these features contributes to the overall effectiveness of the rating system:

External Attack Surface Management (EASM): EASM refers to continuously monitoring and assessing an organization's external-facing assets, such as websites, servers, applications, and cloud services. By comprehensively scanning and analyzing an organization's attack surface, ThreatNG can identify potential security weaknesses and vulnerabilities that external threat actors could exploit.

• Comprehensive Data Collection: ThreatNG's EASM capabilities gather data from various sources, including internet-wide scans, dark web monitoring, and threat intelligence feeds. This broad data collection ensures that a wide range of potential risks and vulnerabilities are considered during the rating process.

• Continuously Monitoring: EASM monitors an organization's attack surface, providing up-to-date information on newly discovered assets or vulnerabilities. This real-time monitoring allows ThreatNG to offer timely and accurate security ratings that reflect the current security posture of the rated entity.

Digital Risk Protection (DRP): DRP involves monitoring and mitigating digital risks, including brand impersonation, data leaks, and online fraud, which can significantly impact an organization's security posture. ThreatNG can provide a more comprehensive evaluation of an entity's digital risk exposure by addressing these risks.

• Mitigation of Digital Threats: ThreatNG's DRP capabilities actively work to detect and mitigate digital risks, such as phishing attacks, counterfeit websites, and data breaches. The organization's overall security posture improves by reducing these risks, positively influencing its security rating.

• Protection Across Multiple Channels: DRP includes risk coverage for social media, email, and the web, among other digital channels. By extending the scope of protection, ThreatNG can assess an organization's security performance holistically and provide a more accurate security rating.

Integrating EASM and DRP into Security Ratings: ThreatNG integrates the insights from EASM and DRP into its security ratings, providing a more comprehensive and detailed assessment of an entity's security posture. This integration enables ThreatNG to identify potential vulnerabilities in the technical infrastructure (EASM) and the organization's overall digital footprint (DRP), offering a more robust and accurate security rating.

The ThreatNG combination of External Attack Surface Management (EASM) and Digital Risk Protection (DRP) capabilities allows it to provide superior rating efficacy by delivering comprehensive, timely, and accurate security ratings. Considering a wide range of digital risks and vulnerabilities, ThreatNG offers valuable insights that help organizations make informed decisions and proactively improve their cybersecurity posture.