Security Communities Report

Executive Summary

We analyzed 12 security communities listed on Hive Index to understand where people gather, what these groups offer, and which communities attract the most interest.

The big picture: In this smaller sample, security communities are broad and fragmented, with many small groups and a few very large outliers.

Source: Hive Index community database · Updated periodically

Communities
12
Platforms
7
Avg members
14K
Median members
4K

Where Security Communities Are Hosted

  • Skool: 5 communities (42%)
  • LinkedIn: 2 communities (17%)
  • X / Twitter: 1 communities (8%)
  • Facebook: 1 communities (8%)
  • WhatsApp: 1 communities (8%)
  • Independent Platforms: 1 communities (8%)
  • Discord: 1 communities (8%)
  • Skool
    5(42%)
  • LinkedIn
    2(17%)
  • X / Twitter
    1(8%)
  • Facebook
    1(8%)
  • WhatsApp
    1(8%)
  • Independent Platforms
    Independent Platforms
    1(8%)
  • Discord
    1(8%)

Format mix

  • Private membership
    5(42%)
  • Other platforms
    3(25%)
  • Forum / feed-based
    2(17%)
  • Chat communities
    2(17%)

Private membership is most common (42%), but other platforms is also well represented (25%).

Skool leads (42% of listings).

Audience Size & Access

Community size

  • Tiny: 0 communities (0%)
  • Small: 0 communities (0%)
  • Medium: 2 communities (17%)
  • Large: 5 communities (42%)
  • Huge: 3 communities (25%)
  • Massive: 0 communities (0%)
  • Gigantic: 0 communities (0%)
  • Tiny
    <20 members
    0(0%)
  • Small
    20-100 members
    0(0%)
  • Medium
    100-1,000 members
    2(17%)
  • Large
    1,000-10,000 members
    5(42%)
  • Huge
    10,000-100,000 members
    3(25%)
  • Massive
    100,000-1M members
    0(0%)
  • Gigantic
    1M+ members
    0(0%)

2 communities have unknown member counts.

Free vs paid

  • Free to join: 11 communities (92%)
  • Paid or apply-to-join: 1 communities (8%)

The average is much higher than the median (14K vs 4K), which usually means a few large groups are pulling the average up.

How Security Differs From Other Categories

Security is more free-to-join, smaller, and more chat-heavy, compared with typical Hive Index topics.

MetricSecurityHive Index average
Free to join92%84%
Median members4K25K
Average members14K662K
Paid or apply-to-join8%16%
Live chat67%41%
Discord share8%18%

Feature Mix

Common features appear in at least 15% of listings.

Common Features

  • Live Chat: 8 communities (67%)
  • Forum: 4 communities (33%)
  • Courses: 2 communities (17%)
  • Job Board: 2 communities (17%)
  • Newsletter: 2 communities (17%)
  • Live Chat
    67%
  • Forum
    33%
  • Courses
    17%
  • Job Board
    17%
  • Newsletter
    17%

Niche Features

  • Online/Offline Events: 1 communities (8%)
  • Paid Community: 1 communities (8%)
  • Online/Offline Events
    8%
  • Paid Community
    8%

Live Chat appears on 67% of listings.

What Visitors Click

Outbound clicks / mo
24

Platform supply vs. clicks

PlatformCommunitiesShare of communitiesOutbound clicksShare of clicks
Skool542%
14%
LinkedIn217%
14%
WhatsApp18%
1875%
Discord18%
417%

Share is calculated within this topic.

WhatsApp gets 75% of clicks but only 8% of listings, so visitors click it more than you'd expect from supply alone.

Most-clicked formats

  • Chat communities
    22(92%)
  • Other platforms
    1(4%)
  • Private membership
    1(4%)

Most-clicked features

  • Live Chat
    23(96%)
  • Online/Offline Events
    18(75%)
  • Courses
    2(8%)
  • Forum
    1(4%)
  • Job Board
    1(4%)
  • Newsletter
    1(4%)

Most-clicked size ranges

  • Large
    18(75%)
  • Huge
    2(8%)

Top-clicked listings

  • WhiteHat Hub
    18(75%)
  • AISafe Labs Discord
    4(17%)
  • Cyber Security Europe
    1(4%)

Most clicks go to chat communities and other platforms communities.

Methodology & FAQ

Methodology

This report uses communities in the Hive Index database tagged as Security. We exclude removed or suppressed listings. Member counts, traffic, features, reviews, and ratings may vary by source and are updated periodically.

  • •We only have a handful of listings so far, so treat these numbers as directional.

FAQ