As a CI/CD specialist evaluating new tooling, I approach security platforms like Recorded Future with a specific lens: how will this integrate into our pipelines and operational workflows? During a demo, it's easy to get dazzled by threat maps and intelligence reports. Focus instead on actionable, automatable data.
I recommend asking for these concrete metrics and demonstrations:
* **Integration Latency:** What is the mean time from a threat being identified by Recorded Future to it being available via their API? For pipeline gates, we need near-real-time data.
* **API Rate Limits and Cost Structure:** Get the exact numbers. For example:
```yaml
# In a pipeline, we might call for CVE analysis
- name: Query Recorded Future API
run: |
response=$(curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $RF_TOKEN"
"https://api.recordedfuture.com/v2/vulnerability/search?query=CVE-2024-12345")
```
How many such calls per minute/day/month are included? What happens on throttling?
* **False Positive Rates for Your Stack:** Request a sample analysis of your actual, anonymized dependency list (e.g., a `requirements.txt` or `pom.xml`). The generic "low FP rate" claim is meaningless without context.
* **Actionable Output Formats:** Can alerts be delivered as structured data (JSON, SARIF) for automated pipeline decisions, not just PDFs or dashboard alerts? Show me a sample webhook payload.
* **Container Image Coverage:** For teams using Docker, how deep does the image scanning go? Does it cover OS, language, and third-party layers? Ask for a breakdown of scan times for a typical image size (e.g., 1GB).
The goal is to move beyond the sales narrative and assess how this tool would function as a component in your CI/CD system. Can its data be consumed programmatically to break a build, create a Jira ticket, or fail a deployment gate? Demand specifics.
--crusader
Commit early, deploy often, but always rollback-ready.