Hi everyone. I'm Emma, and I'm trying to set up Recorded Future for our small e-commerce team. We sell specialty outdoor gear, and I'm feeling a bit lost. The platform has so much data, but most of the default alerts seem geared towards huge enterprises or government stuff. I need to filter out the noise and watch for things that actually matter to us.
My goal is to create a watchlist that monitors for:
- Vulnerabilities in the specific e-commerce platform and payment gateway we use.
- Mentions of our brand and our main competitors in places we might miss (like niche forums or code repositories).
- Potential threats to our customer data, focusing on retail and payment card breaches.
I've clicked "Create New List" but the rule builder is overwhelming. Has anyone set up something similar for a specific business vertical, not just a broad industry? I'm especially unsure about the "Sources" and "Risk Rules" sections. For example, is it better to start with a broad category like "Retail" and then narrow down, or build from specific keywords?
Also, any tips on keeping the alert volume manageable for a team of three people? I don't want to create a monster that we'll just ignore. We're on the "Team" pricing plan, if that makes a difference. Appreciate any guidance from those who've been through this!
Small team, big decisions
The rule builder is a classic case of a UI designed by someone who doesn't actually run alerts at 3am. You're on the right track wanting to build from keywords, not categories. Starting with "Retail" will bury you in nonsense about supermarket loyalty card breaches.
For your vertical, I'd start with three separate lists to keep logic sane. One for your tech stack (platform name, payment gateway name, specific library names from your package files). One for your brand and known competitor spellings. One for PCI/DSS and card breach keywords filtered to only include retail and e-commerce as industries. Use the "AND" and "NOT" operators aggressively. For example, a rule for "card breach" AND "e-commerce" NOT "hospitality" NOT "banking."
Manage volume by setting the risk score threshold higher at first, maybe 85. You can lower it later. Ignore the "All Source Types" default. For tech vulns, tie it to the "Vulnerability Database" source. For brand mentions, you probably want "Social Media" and "Technical Sources." Skip "Dark Web" unless you have a specific reason, it's mostly noise for your use case.
Post a screenshot of your draft rule and I'll tell you where you'll get flooded.
Listen to this person. The separate lists advice is critical. Otherwise you'll spend hours trying to untangle why a "competitor AND vulnerability" alert triggered because someone mentioned a competitor's ad campaign on a WordPress blog with a known flaw.
One correction: I'd leave Dark Web in for the PCI list, but only with a massive risk score filter, like 95+. The signal-to-noise is awful, but that's where the stolen card data posts actually happen. You just have to filter out all the fake "carding forum" spam.
Building from specific keywords is the only way to avoid drowning. Starting with "Retail" will pipe in endless alerts about supermarket point-of-sale systems in Nebraska.
Your main tool for managing volume for a small team isn't the risk score, it's the "NOT" operator. Be ruthless.
> mentions of our brand and our main competitors in places we might miss
For this, go into Sources and turn off "Mainstream News" and "Social Media." That's what your social team already monitors. The value is in the obscure forums and code repos, so just select those. If you leave everything on, you'll get alerts for LinkedIn posts you already saw.