PESTLE

Among the oldest tools known to mankind are the mortar and pestle. To cheat a bit: the mortar is a heavy bowl (see above) while the pestle is a rod-shaped tool. They are used in tandem to crush elements -- seeds, berries, etc -- to create pastes, aromas, etc.

Managers rely upon a different tool to understand the contexts of their businesses: PESTLE. The acronym refers to a set of analyses of salient forces affecting your business: political, economic, social, technological, legal, environmental forces.

Businesses do not function the same outside of their home country. Local cultures even outside of the main HQ office -- we've all experienced this -- affect what gets done and by whom, and certainly when it gets done. 

Cybersecurity should be highly attuned to PESTLE for exactly those reasons. Any time a satellite office ("HQ2") opens, systems need to be synced. Think of that when non-home-country suppliers or contractors, or subcontractors, are involved. What's done in one location can be hard to enforce in another.

Examples of the impacts of these variances are raised regularly in terms of cybersecurity. An excellent example is the crescendo of AI in cybersecurity; it's a super-PESTLE factor. In one incident from 2025 that we covered, malicious agents paid off low-paid contractors to gain system accesses that led to a ransomware attack. In a more recent incident that we also covered, a gang created a fake shipping company just well enough to fool a less-vigilant logistics firm handling a load of lobster meat destined for Costco.* 

Pythia Cyber uses a PESTLE analysis in its engagements to create a more complete picture of the client's cybersecurity environment. We presume that there is variation, because there is. Understanding that variation means that we can work with clients to decide whether it matters for cybersecurity talent requirements. 

Are you so sure it does not matter?

Ask us how we can work with you using PESTLE to help you create your talented team within the PESTLE contexts important to you.

*You could say the gang got their claws on the claws...🦞

(image credit: Prabhavathi anaka, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)