Guides for Executives
These guides are designed for fast, focused reading. They explain what the dashboards and reports tell you, what to watch for, and how to get the information you need for board meetings and strategic decisions.
Guide 1: Reading the Executive Dashboard
Understand what each number on the dashboard means and whether your security posture is improving or declining.
| Time needed | 5 minutes |
| Prerequisites | ThreatWeaver account with any role |
| What you'll learn | What each KPI means, how to read trends, and how to drill down for details |
The key metrics
When you log in to ThreatWeaver, the main dashboard shows several KPI cards at the top. Here is what each one means:
| KPI | What it measures | Good direction |
|---|---|---|
| Total Vulnerabilities | Number of open (unfixed) security issues across all systems. | Decreasing over time. |
| Critical Count | Number of the most severe issues that could lead to a data breach. | Should be as close to zero as possible. |
| WeaverScore | Overall security health on a 0-100 scale. Combines severity, exploitability, and asset importance. | Higher is better. Watch the trend. |
| MTTR | Mean Time to Remediate -- average days it takes to fix a vulnerability after discovery. | Lower is better. Industry average for critical issues is ~60 days. |
| Fix Rate | Percentage of discovered vulnerabilities that have been fixed. | Higher is better. Above 80% is strong. |
| SLA Compliance | Percentage of findings fixed within your defined SLA windows. | Should be above 90%. |
Reading trend lines
Each KPI has a trend indicator (an arrow or a sparkline chart):
- Arrow pointing up with a green background -- the metric is improving.
- Arrow pointing down with a red background -- the metric is worsening and needs attention.
- Flat line -- stable, no significant change.
A company with 500 vulnerabilities that is fixing them 20% faster each quarter is in better shape than a company with 50 vulnerabilities whose fix rate is declining. Trends tell the real story.
Drill-down: getting more details
Click on any KPI card to see the data behind it:
- Total Vulnerabilities -- click to see them broken down by severity, asset, or age.
- Critical Count -- click to see the specific critical findings, which assets are affected, and who is responsible for the fix.
- WeaverScore -- click to see which factors are pulling the score up or down.
Time range
Use the time range selector (top right of the dashboard) to change the view:
| Range | Use for |
|---|---|
| 7 days | Quick check on recent activity. |
| 30 days | Monthly review. Most common for leadership check-ins. |
| 90 days | Quarterly review. Good for board presentations. |
| All time | Long-term trend analysis. Shows the full journey. |
Export as PDF
Click the Export or Download button on the dashboard to generate a PDF snapshot. This is ready for board decks and email attachments.
Guide 2: Understanding Your Security Posture
A guide to interpreting your organization's overall security health and knowing when to escalate.
| Time needed | 5 minutes |
| Prerequisites | Access to the executive dashboard |
| What you'll learn | What "security posture" means, key indicators, and red flags |
What is "security posture"?
Security posture is the overall state of your organization's defenses against cyberattacks. It considers:
- How many vulnerabilities exist across your systems
- How quickly your team finds and fixes them
- Whether the most critical systems are protected
- Whether you are meeting compliance requirements
Think of it like a health checkup for your IT infrastructure. The dashboard gives you the vital signs.
Key indicators to watch
| Indicator | Healthy | Concerning | Urgent |
|---|---|---|---|
| WeaverScore trend | Stable or rising | Gradual decline for 2+ weeks | Sharp drop in a single week |
| Critical vuln count | 0-5 | 6-20 | 20+ |
| MTTR for critical | Under 14 days | 14-60 days | Over 60 days |
| Fix rate | Above 80% | 50-80% | Below 50% |
| SLA compliance | Above 90% | 70-90% | Below 70% |
Red flags that need attention
Watch for these warning signs:
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WeaverScore dropping for two or more consecutive weeks. This means new vulnerabilities are being found faster than they are being fixed, or the severity of new findings is increasing.
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Critical vulnerability count rising. Even one unpatched critical vulnerability on an internet-facing system is a significant risk. If this number is climbing, ask your security team what is blocking remediation.
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MTTR increasing. If it is taking longer and longer to fix issues, there may be resource constraints, process bottlenecks, or competing priorities.
-
New critical findings on critical assets. Pay special attention when critical vulnerabilities appear on your most important systems (payment processing, customer data, authentication infrastructure).
Questions to ask your security team
When reviewing the dashboard, consider asking:
- "What is driving the WeaverScore change this quarter?"
- "How many critical vulnerabilities are on our customer-facing systems?"
- "Are we meeting our remediation SLAs? If not, what is blocking us?"
- "Have any of our exceptions expired without being renewed?"
- "What does the next quarter's remediation plan look like?"
Guide 3: Requesting a Penetration Test Report
Find and download completed penetration test reports for audit submissions and board review.
| Time needed | 5 minutes |
| Prerequisites | Analyst role or higher |
| What you'll learn | How to find completed assessments, download reports, and share with auditors |
Steps
-
Navigate to AppSec > Assessments. From the left sidebar, click AppSec and then Assessments. This shows all completed and in-progress security assessments.
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Find the assessment. Use the search bar or filters to find the assessment you need. You can filter by:
- Target name (the application that was tested)
- Date range (when the test was run)
- Status (look for "Completed")
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View the assessment summary. Click on the completed assessment to see an overview:
- Total findings by severity
- Pass/fail by vulnerability category
- Scan duration and coverage statistics
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Download the pentest report (PDF). Click Download Report or Export PDF. The report includes:
Section What it contains Executive Summary One-page overview of results, risk level, and key findings. Written for non-technical readers. Findings by Severity Complete list of vulnerabilities, organized from Critical to Informational. Evidence Technical proof for each finding: the request sent, the response received, and why it constitutes a vulnerability. Remediation Advice Specific fix recommendations for each finding, tailored to the technology stack. Methodology Description of the testing approach (black box, gray box, white box) and tools used. -
Share with auditors or board members. The PDF is formatted for professional presentation. You can:
- Email it directly to auditors
- Upload it to your audit management platform
- Include it in board meeting materials
Pentest reports are retained according to your data retention policy. If you need a report from a past assessment that has been archived, contact your admin to restore it. See Data Retention Policies.
Next steps
- Generating Executive Reports -- create custom reports for specific audiences
- Understanding WeaverScore -- deeper dive into the risk scoring methodology
- Welcome Guide for New Team Members -- share with new hires joining the security program
- FAQ -- answers to common questions