Security teams today face an insurmountable challenge: automated scanners generate thousands of findings per scan cycle, yet most organizations lack the resources to address them all. The result? Critical vulnerabilities remain exposed while teams chase low-impact issues, and attackers exploit the gaps.
Beacon Security Standards provides a battle-tested, three-tier prioritization framework that transforms scanner noise into actionable intelligence. Developed by security practitioners, this open-source standard enables organizations to:
- Reduce Mean Time to Remediate (MTTR) for critical vulnerabilities by up to 70%
- Align security operations with business risk and compliance requirements
- Eliminate alert fatigue by focusing resources where they matter most
- Demonstrate due diligence to auditors, regulators, and stakeholders
Remediation SLA: 24-72 hours
Vulnerabilities that pose an immediate, exploitable threat to the organization. These findings represent active attack vectors that sophisticated adversaries routinely target. Tier 1 issues can lead to:
- Complete system compromise
- Mass data exfiltration
- Ransomware deployment
- Business operation disruption
Examples: Internet-exposed databases, missing MFA on privileged accounts, critical unpatched CVEs
Remediation SLA: 30 days
Findings that directly impact compliance posture with legal, regulatory, or contractual obligations. Failure to address Tier 2 issues can result in:
- Audit failures and certification loss
- Regulatory fines and penalties
- Contract breaches with customers
- Legal liability exposure
Applies to: PCI DSS, HIPAA, SOC 2, GDPR, ISO 27001, CCPA, NIST CSF
Remediation SLA: 90 days
Security hygiene improvements that strengthen defense-in-depth. While not immediately exploitable, Tier 3 findings represent technical debt that can enable future attacks if left unaddressed.
Examples: Non-essential open ports, incomplete RBAC implementation, missing security headers
Each tier addresses four core security domains:
| Domain | Focus Area |
|---|---|
| Network | Perimeter security, network segmentation, traffic filtering |
| Identity & Access | Authentication, authorization, privilege management |
| Processing Protection | Compute resources, runtime security, availability |
| Data | Storage encryption, access controls, data lifecycle |
Beacon standards map directly to industry frameworks:
| Framework | Integration |
|---|---|
| OWASP | Web application vulnerability classification |
| MITRE ATT&CK | Adversary tactics and technique mapping |
| NIST CSF | Risk management alignment |
| CIS Controls | Implementation prioritization |
Beacon integrates with leading security tools:
| Scanner | Type | Tier Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Nmap | Network Discovery | Tier 1, 3 |
| Nessus | Vulnerability Scanner | All Tiers |
| Burp Suite | Web Application | Tier 1, 2 |
| Nuclei | Template Scanner | Tier 1, 2 |
| PROWLER | Cloud Security | All Tiers |
| Cloudsploit | Cloud Posture | All Tiers |
For complete tool documentation, see Scanners and Frameworks.
- Inventory your attack surface - Document all assets, services, and data stores
- Run baseline scans - Execute scanners against your environment
- Apply Beacon tiers - Classify findings using this framework
- Prioritize remediation - Address Tier 1 first, then 2, then 3
- Measure and iterate - Track MTTR by tier, adjust as needed
Beacon recommends this severity mapping:
| Beacon Tier | CVSS Range | Risk Level |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 7.0 - 10.0 | Critical/High |
| Tier 2 | 4.0 - 6.9 | Medium + Compliance Impact |
| Tier 3 | 0.1 - 3.9 | Low/Informational |
Beacon is open source under GPL-3.0. We welcome contributions from security practitioners:
- Report issues - Suggest new categorizations or corrections
- Submit PRs - Improve documentation or add scanner mappings
- Share feedback - Help us refine the framework
This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0.
Beacon Security Standards - Cut through the noise. Secure what matters.