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GRC News Assistant

This Python-based tool requires minimal coding experience for users to collect Cybersecurity Governance, Risk, and Compliance related news articles (or any topic of interest) using the NewsData.io API, with ratings powered by Fabric AI. You just add keywords of interest to a CSV file, run the script (e.g., daily), and it adds news articles to a spreadsheet, with ratings from "S Tier (Must Consume Original Content Immediately)" to "C Tier (Maybe Skip It)." This capability provides GRC professionals with a bank of quick-to-access relevant cyber news stories to help win hearts and minds for cyber risk reduction with executives, managers, IT practitioners, and end users.

This project is inspired by and builds upon the work of several excellent open-source projects:

Related Videos

Prerequisites

Before using this tool, ensure you have the following prerequisites installed:

  1. Python 3.7 or higher 
    #Check python version
python3 --version
  2. fabric - Must be installed separately. I have a step-by-step blog post with a video walkthrough here: https://www.cpatocybersecurity.com/p/install-the-new-fabric
  3. OS-specific clipboard tools:
    • macOS: Built-in with pbpaste, no additional installation needed
    • Linux: Install xclip 
      # Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install xclip

# Fedora
sudo dnf install xclip
    • Windows: Built-in PowerShell commands used, no additional installation needed

Installation

  1. Clone the repository: 
    git clone https://github.com/cpatocybersecurity/GRCnewsAssistant
cd GRCnewsAssistant
  2. Create a virtual environment: 
    # Create a virtual environment
python3 -m venv venv
  3. Activate virtual environment 
    # On macOS/Linux:
source venv/bin/activate
# On Windows:
.\venv\Scripts\activate
  4. Install Python dependencies: 
    # With virtual environment activated:
pip install -r requirements.txt
  5. Set up NLTK data: 
    # With virtual environment activated:
python -c "import nltk; nltk.download('punkt')"

API Key Setup

This tool requires a NewsData.io API key. Follow these steps to set it up:

  1. Sign up for a free account at NewsData.io

  2. Get your API key from the dashboard

  3. Set your API key as an environment variable:

    For macOS/Linux:

    #Edit your "Z Shell's" configuration file for aliases, startup commands and environmental variables
nano ~/.zshrc

#add this line to your shell's startup file to make it permanent
export NEWSDATA_API_KEY='your_api_key_here'

#Or .bashrc, etc. depending on your environment

    For Windows (Command Prompt):

    set NEWSDATA_API_KEY=your_api_key_here

    For Windows (PowerShell):

    $env:NEWSDATA_API_KEY='your_api_key_here'

Usage

  1. Prepare your keywords:

    • Modify the file named keywords.csv in the same directory as the script, with new items of interest
    • Add one keyword per line, or multiple words per line with "%20" in spaces between words

  2. Configure fabric for your LLM of choice

    fabric --setup
[1] claude-3-5-haiku-latest

  3. Run the script:

    #Go to the grcnewsassistant directory if you're not already there
cd grcnewsassistant

#Activate the virtual enviornment if it's not already activated, e.g. for macOS/Linus:
source venv/bin/activate

# On Windows:
.\venv\Scripts\activate

#Execute the script   
python GRCnewsAssistant.py

The script will:

  • Search for news articles matching your keywords in keywords.csv (using NewsData.io)
  • Extract article content (with Newspaper4k) and rate the content using the fabric label_and_rate pattern/prompt and your LLM of choice
  • Save the analyzed results to grcdata_rated.csv

Output Files

  • urls.csv: List of article URLs generated by NewsData.io, which are an input to Newspaper4k to extract article content and send it for rating
  • grcdata_rated.csv: Enhanced dataset including AI analysis results

Error Handling

The script includes comprehensive error handling and will provide clear messages if:

  • The API key is not set
  • Required clipboard tools are missing (Linux)
  • Keywords file is missing or empty
  • API requests fail
  • Article processing encounters issues

Operating System Compatibility

The script is compatible with:

  • macOS (uses built-in pbcopy/pbpaste)
  • Linux (requires xclip)
  • Windows (uses PowerShell's Get-Clipboard)

Troubleshooting

  1. API Key Issues

    • Ensure the environment variable is set correctly
    • Check if your API key is valid at NewsData.io

  2. Linux Clipboard Issues

    • Verify xclip is installed: which xclip
    • Try reinstalling xclip if needed

  3. Windows PowerShell Issues

    • Ensure you're running with appropriate permissions
    • Try running PowerShell as administrator if needed

Contributing

Feel free to submit issues, fork the repository, and create pull requests for any improvements.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.