Overview

Importance is a numeric rating (1–5) assigned to technical assets reflecting their operational criticality. It serves as a primary weighting factor for risk prioritization across the platform: remediating findings on high-Importance assets achieves a significantly greater reduction in Exposure and Likelihood of Breach than remediating identical findings on low-Importance assets.

Automated by Default: The platform evaluates asset attributes using predefined heuristic rules without requiring initial configuration.
Full User Control: Authorized users can remove inaccurate heuristic tags or override Importance ratings manually at any time.
Dual-View Visibility: Importance values and origin indicators (A for Automatic, M for Manual) display on the Assets page and within finding remediation details.

Note: Business Assets utilize an independent, user-defined rating scale (1–10). This documentation applies exclusively to technical asset Importance. Refer to Reviewing Business Assets for business asset configuration.

How Automatic Assignment Works

Upon ingestion (via integrations, file imports, or manual creation), the platform evaluates unassigned assets and calculates an Importance rating based on detected technical attributes.

Evaluation Criteria: Heuristic rules analyze attributes that indicate asset criticality (such as production environment indicators). Each detected attribute attaches to the asset as a heuristic tag.
Execution Trigger: Evaluation runs automatically on unrated assets. Existing manual overrides are strictly preserved and never overwritten by automated evaluations.
Initial Processing Window: Unprocessed assets display unassigned Importance boxes alongside an A indicator. Initial automated calculation completes within 12 hours.

Heuristic Tags: Score Transparency and Adjustment

Platform-generated heuristic tags explain the reasoning behind an automatically assigned score by identifying each attribute detected by the system.

Identification: Heuristic tags display a wand icon
and unique color coding to distinguish them from user-created tags on the Assets page.
Tag colors serve strictly for visual differentiation and carry no functional, priority, or severity-based meaning.
Auditing Assigned Ratings: Review attached heuristic tags to verify the specific attributes driving an automated rating.
Removing Tags: If a detected attribute is inaccurate (e.g., a non-production asset tagged as production), deleting the tag triggers an immediate recalculation based on remaining tags. Deleted heuristic tags are permanently excluded from future automated evaluations on that asset.
Manual Override Supremacy: Manually assigning a rating overrides all automated calculations and tag weighting.

Manual Override Workflows

Users with edit permissions can adjust Importance ratings directly from the Assets page or from a finding's remediation details.

Assigning a Manual Score: Select a numeric level (1–5) on the Importance indicator. The origin indicator updates from A to M.
Reverting to Automatic Mode: Select Reset to automatic. The platform immediately recalculates and applies the score based on active heuristic tags.
Bulk Editing: Select multiple assets to apply a unified Importance rating simultaneously. Bulk edits automatically apply as manual overrides (M).
Audit Logging: All Importance modifications—including previous and updated scores, timestamps, and user attribution—are recorded in the Audit Trail.

Note: The platform automatically converted manual Importance values from the older 1–3 scale to the 1–5 scale: 1 stayed 1, 2 (the middle level) became 3, and 3 (the maximum) became 5. Converted values remain manual.

Impact on Risk Metrics

Importance ratings directly weight the risk reduction achieved during remediation. Resolving a finding on a high-Importance asset yields a larger reduction in Likelihood of Breach compared to a lower-rated asset.

For full calculation details, see Understanding Likelihood of Breach: How Remediation Progress Reduces Risk.

Wrap-Up/Next Steps

Audit Critical Assets: Filter the Assets page by highest Importance ratings to verify that calculated values align with actual operational criticality.
Prune Inaccurate Tags: Inspect heuristic tags on unexpected ratings and remove misapplied attributes to trigger an accurate recalculation.
Apply Manual Overrides: Manually set Importance scores on assets where internal context falls outside the scope of automated heuristics.

Asset Importance: Automatic Assignment Mechanics