CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

IANS vs Living Security

IANS is a practitioner-sourced intelligence engine where data, peer experience and expert insights converge for security teams. Living Security sells a platform that reads signals from the security tools its customers already run to reveal human and agent risk, and guides the response. CISO Tribune files both under Security awareness training. This page sets the two records side by side: what each sells, where it is based, who owns and funds it, the customers it names and its recent news, each fact numbered to its source.

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  • IANS
  • Living Security
IANS vs Living Security: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
IANSIANS is a practitioner-sourced intelligence engine where data, peer experience and expert insights converge for security teams.ians.comLiving SecurityLiving Security sells a platform that reads signals from the security tools its customers already run to reveal human and agent risk, and guides the response.livingsecurity.com
What it sells
  • Ask IANS[12]An AI Q&A service built on a proprietary database of IANS Faculty expert advice.
  • Client Portal[12][14]A library of research, tools and templates contributed by IANS Faculty.
  • CISO Inquiry Community[12]An invitation-only service where CISOs gain insights from a private community of peers.
  • Livvy[5][10]Livvy proposes the next move, and the customer's team approves it.
  • Phishing simulation[5][7]Phishing simulation aimed by the customer's risk data, not its calendar.
  • Human Risk Management Framework[5]An open framework of 137 signals, open to everyone under CC BY 4.0.
  • Living Security SCIM[8]Account provisioning that follows the SCIM 2.0 standard.
Categories
Headquarters
Not stated on its pagesAustin, United States[2]
Founded
Not stated on its pages2017[1][4]
Ownership and funding
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
  • August 25, 2026IANS named Kelley Hippler as its Chief Revenue Officer, citing her revenue leadership experience at Thought Industries, Briefly Legal, and Forrester.[16]
  • July 15, 2026IANS announced the launch of its Model Context Protocol Server, which delivers cybersecurity insights and data through the AI tools security teams use.[10]
  • March 31, 2026IANS announced the launch of a security-focused news offering with daily coverage written by its in-house reporters and backed by expert practitioner analysis.[9]
  • February 4, 2026IANS appointed Dan Klein as Executive Vice President, Faculty and Professional Services.[11]
  • March 24, 2026Living Security announced general availability of its AI-native human risk management platform, which extends risk management to both human employees and AI agents.[9]
  • March 12, 2026Living Security announced that Edna Conway has joined the company as Executive Advisor.[11]
  • January 14, 2026Living Security launched Livvy, an AI intelligence engine for its AI-native human risk management platform, made available in beta.[10]
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: Not stated on its pages
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
  • G2: Not stated on its pages
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
Who it fits
From its own pages, IANS sells mainly to CISOs and their cybersecurity teams. A privacy service from IANS is aimed at CISOs, privacy teams and compliance teams. IANS offers an invitation-only community in which CISOs gain insights from their peers. IANS describes professional development that runs from hands-on technical skill to the executive table. No vendor can become an IANS client. IANS offers data-as-a-service delivery of its content to clients that license it.From its own pages, Living Security sells to organisations that already run security tools, from which it reads signals to reveal human and agent risk. Our reading is that the platform serves security teams that keep the final decision on responses, since approvals stay with the customer's team. The workforce Living Security describes includes people in business functions such as finance, with an accounts payable lead given as an example. Our reading is that Living Security sells to organisations running AI agents alongside people, with every agent held to an accountable owner.
Last verified
October 16, 2026September 27, 2026

Where they overlap

  • IANS and Living Security are both filed under Security awareness training.

Where they differ, field by field

  • IANS's primary category is Security consulting and advisory; Living Security's is Human risk management.
  • IANS is also filed under Penetration testing and red team services.
  • IANS lists Ask IANS, Client Portal and CISO Inquiry Community. Living Security lists Livvy, Phishing simulation, Human Risk Management Framework and Living Security SCIM.
  • Living Security is headquartered in Austin, United States.
  • Living Security was founded in 2017.

What it sells: IANS

What Client Portal does[12][14]
The Client Portal provides a library of research, tools and templates contributed by IANS Faculty. Client Portal website data and infrastructure are based in the U.S.

What it sells: Living Security

What Livvy does[5][10]
Livvy recommends an action for each person, a playbook runs the action, and every result flows back into the Human Risk Index. Livvy can recommend step-up MFA and a credential reset for a person, then a 90-second coaching nudge, and waits for the team's approval. Approvals stay with the customer's team.
What Phishing simulation does[5][7]
Who is being targeted by real attacks, what assets those users can access and how they have behaved in the past go into shaping each test before it goes out. Living Security is launching support for phishing simulations via email and Teams. SMS, voice, and video simulations are on the Living Security near-term roadmap.
What Human Risk Management Framework does[5]
The Living Security map of how risk builds comes from the Human Risk Management Framework, which has 137 signals and is open to everyone under CC BY 4.0. In the map, signals from nine risk domains join into cohorts, cohorts feed sequences, and each sequence heads for a breach scenario.
What Living Security SCIM does[8]
Living Security SCIM follows the SCIM 2.0 standard (RFC 7643 and RFC 7644). SailPoint Identity Security Cloud and IdentityIQ manage Living Security accounts through the SailPoint SCIM 2.0 connector. The schema includes the core user, the Enterprise extension and the Living Security extension.

Questions about IANS and Living Security

What do IANS and Living Security sell?
IANS sells Ask IANS, Client Portal and CISO Inquiry Community. Living Security sells Livvy, Phishing simulation, Human Risk Management Framework and Living Security SCIM.
Are IANS and Living Security in the same category?
They share Security awareness training. IANS's primary category is Security consulting and advisory and Living Security's is Human risk management.
Where are IANS and Living Security headquartered?
Living Security is headquartered in Austin, United States.
When were IANS and Living Security founded?
Living Security was founded in 2017.
Who are IANS and Living Security sold to?
From its own pages, IANS sells mainly to CISOs and their cybersecurity teams. From its own pages, Living Security sells to organisations that already run security tools, from which it reads signals to reveal human and agent risk.
What have IANS and Living Security announced recently?
August 25, 2026: IANS named Kelley Hippler as its Chief Revenue Officer, citing her revenue leadership experience at Thought Industries, Briefly Legal, and Forrester. March 24, 2026: Living Security announced general availability of its AI-native human risk management platform, which extends risk management to both human employees and AI agents.

About IANS

IANS is a practitioner-sourced intelligence engine where data, peer experience and expert insights converge for security teams. IANS has had a single focus on cybersecurity from the beginning. IANS describes itself as a cybersecurity research and advisory firm that provides services to support decision-making for CISOs and their cybersecurity teams. IANS was launched in 2000. IANS describes a proprietary intelligence platform that mines the collective experience of its CISO community and Faculty.[3][12]

IANS says its data comes from thousands of conversations between 170+ Faculty, who are security practitioners in the field, and CISO clients. IANS states that its vendor intelligence is based on facts and data. No vendor can become an IANS client. IANS uses AI to deliver answers from its practitioner-validated intelligence base of cybersecurity decisions.[3]

IANS offers the Ask-An-Expert service, which provides clients with unlimited access to seasoned cybersecurity professionals for guidance on various topics. Ask IANS is an AI Q&A service whose answers draw on a proprietary database of IANS Faculty expert advice. The Client Portal provides a library of research, tools and templates contributed by IANS Faculty. The IANS CISO Inquiry Community is an invitation-only service that lets CISOs gain insights and perspectives from a private community of their peers. IANS Faculty help executives communicate about cybersecurity risks and strategies to their teams and stakeholders. IANS provides briefings on the latest cybersecurity threats and technologies.[1][12]

IANS offers practitioner-based insights from IANS Faculty and industry peers covering aspects of the vendor management lifecycle. A privacy service from IANS includes an operational privacy framework, privacy toolkit, bi-monthly privacy briefings, regulation cheat sheets, and privacy communication slides. IANS provides access to daily content. IANS Faculty give live guidance on breaking cybersecurity events, incidents and breaches. IANS lets clients submit questions to a private peer community and receive insights in shared summaries. IANS offers an interactive, live setting in which to explore challenges with an IANS Faculty member. IANS also returns short, written responses from multiple faculty members on a topic.[12]

IANS acts as an adversary to identify and exploit weaknesses in client controls. IANS demonstrates adversary tactics and gives guidance to harden infrastructure. IANS offers an engagement to find the gaps in a client IR process, then test the plan against them. IANS delivers training through its Faculty practitioners to improve foundational skills and reduce knowledge gaps. IANS provides instruction with hands-on interactive labs, in multiple formats. IANS offers a personalized engagement with an executive coach from its Faculty line-up.[1]

IANS delivers its knowledge base via MCP into AI tools. For clients that license them, IANS offers data-as-a-service delivery of IANS proprietary content, including the IANS MCP Server. The IANS MCP server does not train or operate its own large language model. IANS does not use MCP log data to train AI models, and does not provide it to any third party for model training. Requests to speak with IANS Faculty can be submitted through the MCP.[1][12][13]

IANS protects data at rest with the 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm. IANS data removal process adheres to a decommissioning policy under GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act. IANS conducts annual penetration testing and monthly internal network and vulnerability scans through independent external parties. IANS and Artico Search surveyed more than 525 infosec professionals as part of the 2024 Staff Compensation and Satisfaction Survey. The 2025 Cybersecurity Staff Compensation Benchmark report draws on survey data gathered from June through the end of 2024. The report includes a breakdown of compensation for various roles across security functions and the factors that most impact compensation packages.[1][2][5][6][7][8][15]

IANS on the record

Sources

IANS full record

  1. [1]ians.comIANS · ians.com · undated page, accessed October 16, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Security program assessmentsIANS · ians.com · undated page, accessed October 16, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]About IANS — who we are and what we believe | IANSIANS · undated page, accessed November 2, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]IANS — The intelligence platform for security leadersIANS · undated page, accessed November 2, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]2024 Security Budgets: Data From 755 CISOsIANS · published September 5, 2024 · Tier A
  6. [6]IANS 2025 Security Budget Benchmark ReportIANS · published August 5, 2025 · Tier A
  7. [7]Cybersecurity Salaries 2026: Staff Pay and Retention DataIANS · published March 31, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Webinar: Where to Deploy AI Across Your SecOps TeamIANS · undated page, accessed November 2, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]IANS Launches News Offering and Reinvents Its Platform for How Security Leaders Work TodayIANS · published March 31, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]IANS Launches the First Cybersecurity MCP Server Delivering Practitioner-Validated Intelligence Directly into Clients' Native AI ToolsIANS · published July 15, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]IANS appoints Dan Klein as Executive Vice President, Faculty and Professional Services to Support Faculty and Consulting Services GrowthIANS · published February 4, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Terms of Service | IANSIANS · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]MCP Data Privacy & Security | IANSIANS · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]IANS Cybersecurity Commitment | IANSIANS · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  15. [15]2025 Staff Pay Data From 525+ Infosec ProfessionalsIANS · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]New CRO to Help IANS Expand Practitioner-Sourced Intelligence, Peer Insight, and AI-Ready Guidance for Security TeamsIANS · published August 25, 2026 · Tier A

Living Security full record

  1. [1]About usLiving Security · livingsecurity.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]ContactLiving Security · livingsecurity.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]PlatformLiving Security · livingsecurity.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Living security strengthens cybersecurity human risk platform with phishing simulation moderator free training and foreign translation support 301277650Living Security via PR Newswire · prnewswire.com · published April 27, 2021 · Tier A
  5. [5]Living Security | AI-native Human Risk ManagementLiving Security · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Microsoft Entra ID integration setup - Living Security PlatformLiving Security · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]HRMCon 2026: Human Risk Management Conference | Living SecurityLiving Security · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Set up SCIM with SailPoint - Living Security PlatformLiving Security · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Living Security Launches AI-Native Human Risk Management PlatformLiving Security · published March 24, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Living Security Launches Livvy, AI-Native Predictive HRM IntelligenceLiving Security · published January 14, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Living Security Welcomes Edna Conway as Executive AdvisorLiving Security · published March 12, 2026 · Tier A

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