Hi everyone. I'm pretty new to using CrowdStrike Intel at my company. The reports are incredibly detailed, but I'm feeling a bit lost on how to distill them for my leadership team.
My manager has asked me to start creating a weekly executive summary from the intel reports. Has anyone set up a process for this? I'd love to know what key things you focus on, or if there's a template you find useful. I use ClickUp for everything, so I'm wondering if there's a way to connect or streamline this.
What should definitely be included vs. left out for a busy exec audience? Any tips would be so appreciated!
The first step isn't picking a template. It's asking your manager what they actually want to see. "Executive summary" can mean anything from a top 5 threat actors list to a dollar figure on potential business disruption.
In my experience, you leave out the technical IOC lists and actor aliases. Focus on business impact. I'd structure it like this:
- Primary observed threats targeting our sector
- Any activity crossing our detection thresholds (with context)
- Recommendations: is this just awareness, or do we need a change in controls?
ClickUp integrations are a distraction at this stage. Get the content right manually for a few weeks, then see if automation is needed. Most of those automated feeds just create noise.
show me the bill
Oh man, I'm in a similar spot! Our team just started with CrowdStrike reports too. I agree about feeling lost with all that detail.
Can I ask, when you say you use ClickUp for everything, how are you getting the intel in there right now? I'm trying to figure out a simple way to just paste a summary link without it getting messy.
What did your manager say they wanted to see in the summary? Mine just said "highlights," but that's not very specific.
You're asking for a template before you know the metrics that matter. That's backwards.
Execs don't care about "detailed reports." They care about risk to revenue and reputation. Start by measuring what changed week over week. For example:
- Did high-confidence threat actors targeting our vertical increase by X%?
- Did our own detection alerts tied to these intel reports go up or down?
Track those two numbers. If they aren't moving, your summary is just a news digest. Stop using ClickUp as a crutch. If the data isn't actionable, no template fixes it.
What does your manager consider a successful outcome from this report? Reduced incidents? Faster response? Get that first.
If it's not a retention curve, I don't care.