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Two ways to assess an M&A target's cyber risk

VideosTwo ways to assess an M&A target's cyber risk

Introduction

The M&A Assessment agent streamlines your cyber due diligence. Scan a target from the outside with the OSINT Assessment, or build a full risk profile and report with the M&A Assessment Report. Both live inside the agent in the X-Analytics AI Toolbox.

Bob Vescio, Chief Innovation Officer of X-Analytics, walks through the M&A Assessment agent in the X-Analytics AI Toolbox and its two pre-made options: the OSINT Assessment and the M&A Assessment Report.

What it does

The M&A Assessment agent is an AI agent in the X-Analytics AI Toolbox that streamlines M&A due diligence, analyzing a target's cyber risk so you understand its cyber exposure before an acquisition.

It works two ways.

Run the OSINT Assessment for an outside-in scan when you have almost nothing from the target. Run the M&A Assessment Report when you are ready to build a full risk profile and a report for the deal decision.

Both are available to every X-Analytics customer and partner, at no additional charge.

How it works

Start with the OSINT Assessment when direct data is scarce:

  • Open the M&A Assessment agent and choose OSINT Assessment, then enter the target's legal name and one legitimate web address. You can also run OSINT from supply chain third-party analysis.
  • Receive an overview with a letter grade across safeguards, privacy, and resilience, each scored on a zero-to-one-hundred scale, with the reasoning behind every score.
  • See a shadow AI check that surfaces artificial intelligence running inside the target that has not been disclosed, something other open-source intelligence products leave out.
  • Walk away with prioritized recommendations, so the scan turns into action.

Build the full picture with the M&A Assessment Report when you are ready to make the deal case:

  • Create a new profile for the target. Use the AI profile builder or answer the questions yourself: industry, revenue, employees, operating hours, record volume and type, among other business characteristics.
  • When you cannot collect a full NIST CSF or CIS Critical Security Controls evaluation from the target, build the profile from industry benchmark data instead. Choose the twenty-fifth, fiftieth, or seventy-fifth percentile to match how conservative you want the picture to be.
  • Run the M&A Assessment Report and pick the framework to represent: CIS, NIST, or technology implementation.
  • Review the report, adjust anything through the prompt, then type convert to PDF to share it inside or outside your organization.

What you walk away with

  • An outside-in read on a target's cyber posture from just a name and a web address.
  • A shadow AI check that surfaces undisclosed AI, which may affect the purchase price or open a negotiation point.
  • A cyber risk profile for the target, built from industry benchmark data when direct data is out of reach.
  • A clean, editable report on the target's cyber risk, ready to bring into the go or no-go decision.

Watch the full walkthroughs

The two videos above walk through both tools inside the M&A Assessment agent: an OSINT scan of a real target, and a profile built on benchmark data with a report converted to a shareable PDF.

No consultant. No analyst. No waiting.

Questions about the agent? Reach out to your X-Analytics customer success team at customersuccess@x-analytics.com.

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