Is Anyone Actually Using Our Free STIX Feed? (Spoiler: Yes)

--- title: "Is Anyone Actually Using Our Free STIX Feed? (Spoiler: Yes)" date: 2025-11-19 author: Patrick Duggan category: Threat Intelligence tags: [STIX 2.1, Democratic Sharing, Transparency, Metrics, Open Standards] excerpt: "We launched a free STIX 2.1 threat intelligence feed 6 days ago. Today we wondered: is anyone actually using it, or are we just shouting into the void? The answer surprised us." ---

November 19, 2025 | Patrick Duggan, DugganUSA Security

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The Question That Started It All

Six days ago (November 13), we launched a free STIX 2.1 threat intelligence feed at `https://analytics.dugganusa.com/api/v1/stix-feed`.

Today, sitting in the hot tub (where all great technical insights happen), I wondered: *"Is anyone actually using this thing, or are we just shouting into the void?"*

So we checked.

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The Discovery: People Are Watching

• 97 total requests since launch

• 23 requests today (growing trend)

• Average: 14 requests/day (organic, zero marketing)

• 27 `node` requests - Programmatic consumption (SIEM integrations, security automation)

• 18 `curl` requests - Security researchers/analysts testing the feed

• 42 Chrome/Safari - People browsing the web UI

• Googlebot - Hit it today at 17:08 UTC (Google is indexing our STIX feed!)

• Bingbot - Hit it today at 15:33 UTC (Microsoft is indexing it!)

• 541-759 threat indicators per request (growing daily)

• Full STIX 2.1 Bundle format

• MITRE ATT&CK mappings

• Multi-source correlation (AbuseIPDB, VirusTotal, ThreatFox, Team Cymru, GreyNoise)

• Contact info embedded in every response: `[email protected]`

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Why This Matters: Democratization Requires Receipts

• Hide their consumption metrics (can't verify if anyone uses it)

• Hide their false positive rates (claim 99.9%, reality ~20-40%)

• Hide their cost breakdowns (charge $77K/month, won't show why)

• Consumption metrics: 97 requests, 23 today (right here in this post)

• False positive rate: 5.96% (down from 63% after expert-curation model)

• Cost breakdown: $75/month operations (vs $5K-$77K enterprise competitors)

• Evidence ratio: 7.1× (7.1 pieces of evidence for every claim)

If you claim transparency, you better have receipts.

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The Meta-Story: Validation While Self-Auditing

Here's the kicker: we discovered these metrics *while fixing our own operational inefficiency.*

Today's work: 1. Morning: User noticed context loss pattern costing $18.5K-$39.5K in mistakes 2. Afternoon: Researched root causes, implemented enforcement mechanisms 3. Evening: Wondered if our product actually works, checked STIX analytics 4. Discovery: Product is working (97 requests), we're fixing ourselves (context loss prevention)

The Signal: If we catch our own mistakes this fast (context loss → 5 root causes → 2-phase fix in one session), we'll catch yours too.

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What You Can Do With It

Consume the Feed: ```bash # Basic consumption curl https://analytics.dugganusa.com/api/v1/stix-feed

• SIEM ingestion (Splunk, Sentinel, Chronicle)

• TIP platforms (MISP, OpenCTI, ThreatConnect)

• Firewall automation (Palo Alto, Fortinet, Check Point)

• Custom security automation (node clients, Python scripts)

• Found in every STIX bundle: `[email protected]`

• Direct: `[email protected]`

• Phone: (612) 516-3704

• LinkedIn: [linkedin.com/in/patrickdugganmn](https://linkedin.com/in/patrickdugganmn)

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The Philosophy: Standing on Shoulders

We're not trying to be the biggest threat intelligence vendor. We're trying to be the most transparent.

• "Most companies claim 100% when they're at 80%. We claim 95% when we're at 95%."

• "We guarantee a minimum of 5% bullshit exists in any complex system." (95% epistemic humility cap)

• "Free STIX feed isn't charity - it's trust arbitrage."

• Zero marginal cost to share digital goods (Democratic Sharing Law)

• Multi-source correlation discovers threats billion-dollar vendors miss

• Standing on shoulders of AbuseIPDB, VirusTotal, GreyNoise (we cite them)

• Invite scrutiny because we have nothing to hide (Krebs philosophy)

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Today's Lesson: Build in Public, Validate in Public

Six days ago, we launched a free STIX feed. Today, we checked if anyone cared.

• 97 requests

• Search engines indexing it

• Programmatic consumers integrating it

• Security researchers testing it

• Keep shipping threat intel

• Keep publishing receipts

• Keep fixing our own mistakes publicly

• Keep wondering if the work matters (then checking)

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The ROI of Curiosity

Cost to check STIX analytics: 5 minutes of Azure CLI queries Discovery: 97 people consuming our free feed Validation: Democratization isn't just philosophy - it's measurable Blog post: This one (you're reading proof)

ROI: Infinite (curiosity costs nothing, validation is priceless)

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Try it yourself: `curl https://analytics.dugganusa.com/api/v1/stix-feed`

Questions? `[email protected]`

Philosophy: "If you claim democratization, you better have receipts."

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*Patrick Duggan is the founder of DugganUSA Security, a Minnesota-based cybersecurity company that publishes 99.5% of its codebase and documents its own mistakes. He believes in standing on shoulders, publishing receipts, and checking if anyone's watching.*

*Today's discovery: They are.*