Tidal Cyber Named "Threat-Led Defense Company of the Year" by GRC Outlook

Recognition Highlights Company's Industry Leadership in Reducing Residual Risk Through Behavior-Driven Threat-Led Defense

RESTON, Va., Dec. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Tidal Cyber, the category defining leader in Threat-Led Defense, today announced that it has been named "Threat-Led Defense Company of the Year" by GRC Outlook, a leading publication covering governance, risk, and compliance innovation. The award recognizes Tidal Cyber's pioneering role in reshaping cybersecurity by putting real adversary behavior at the center of modern defense strategies.

The recognition underscores a growing shift in how organizations think about GRC. While traditionally viewed as a regulatory or audit-driven function, GRC is increasingly being used to reduce residual risk by ensuring defenses protect against the threats organizations face today. Tidal Cyber's Threat-Led Defense platform delivers that proof by connecting ATT&CK-aligned Procedures and adversary behavior directly to defensive coverage and control effectiveness.

"For too long, security leaders have been asked to answer the most important question in cybersecurity with educated guesses: Can we defend against the adversaries targeting us right now?" said Rick Gordon, Co-Founder and CEO of Tidal Cyber. "This recognition from GRC Outlook validates our belief that the best way to reduce risk - residual or otherwise - is to start with the adversary. Threat-Led Defense gives organizations a clear, behavior-driven answer grounded in how attackers actually operate."

Founded by former MITRE leaders Rick Gordon (CEO), Frank Duff (Chief Innovation Officer), and Richard Struse (Chief Technology Officer), Tidal Cyber was built to close a long-standing gap between threat intelligence, security controls, and operational decision-making. The company's founders played key roles in shaping the MITRE ATT&CK framework and advancing threat-informed defense, giving them a unique perspective on how adversaries behave and how defenders should respond.

At the core of Tidal Cyber's platform is the industry's most comprehensive industry-first Procedures Library,  which captures tens of thousands of real-world adversary procedures and specific commands, behaviors, and execution patterns used in actual attacks. Powered by NARC™ (Natural Attack Reading & Comprehension), Tidal Cyber's AI engine transforms unstructured threat intelligence, incident response data, pentesting and red-team findings, and more into structured, ATT&CK-aligned Procedures. These insights drive continuous Coverage Maps that show exactly where defenses succeed, where gaps exist, and how organizations can improve detection controls against active threats.

By fusing Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) with Cyber Defense Intelligence (CDI), a detailed understanding of how more than 500 security products map to ATT&CK, Tidal Cyber delivers an evidence-based view of defensive readiness. This same intelligence enables automated compliance evidence mapped to control frameworks such as NIST CSF, NIST 800-53, CIS Controls, and SOC 2, turning compliance into a byproduct of effective security rather than a manual, resource-intensive exercise.

"Threat-Led Defense cuts through the noise of vulnerabilities, alerts, and controls that may not actually matter," said Richard Struse, CTO of Tidal Cyber. "By grounding both security operations and compliance evidence in real adversary behavior, organizations can focus on what truly reduces risk instead of chasing theoretical exposure."

The recognition from GRC Outlook highlights Tidal Cyber's growing impact across organizations of all sizes, from lean security teams seeking clarity and focus to large enterprises aligning control frameworks with real-world threats to strengthen detection and reduce residual risk. As cyber threats continue to evolve, Tidal Cyber is expanding the category it created, helping organizations move from reactive security to proactive, behavior-driven risk reduction.

For more information about Tidal Cyber and its Threat-Led Defense platform, visit www.tidalcyber.com.

About Tidal Cyber

Tidal Cyber is the leader in Threat-Led Defense, helping organizations align their security strategies with real adversary behavior. Powered by the industry's most comprehensive Procedures Library and NARC™ AI, Tidal Cyber transforms unstructured threat intelligence into structured, ATT&CK-aligned adversary procedures that reveal where defenses succeed and where attackers can still operate. By putting adversary behavior at the center of cyber defense, Tidal Cyber enables organizations to reduce residual risk, optimize security investments, and defend with confidence.

SOURCE Tidal Cyber