---
title: "Searching Victims | ThreatConnect"
slug: "searching-victims"
description: "This article describes how to use the Search: Victims screen to view, search, delete, and analyze Victims in your ThreatConnect owners."
tags: ["Viewing Data"]
updated: 2026-01-10T20:02:42Z
published: 2026-01-10T20:02:42Z
canonical: "knowledge.threatconnect.com/searching-victims"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://knowledge.threatconnect.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Searching Victims

## Overview

The [**Search** screen](https://knowledge.threatconnect.com/docs/searching-in-threatconnect) in ThreatConnect® provides a single location to search and browse your data. You can [search all object types](https://knowledge.threatconnect.com/docs/searching-all-object-types) in your ThreatConnect dataset using keywords or phrases, or you can browse threat intelligence data by object type and filter those data to a usable and relevant subset based on details like name/summary, object subtype, owner, and metadata such as Tags, Security Labels, and Attributes.

On the **Search: Victims**screen, you can search and filter all [Victims](https://knowledge.threatconnect.com/docs/the-threatconnect-data-model#victims) in your [ThreatConnect owners](https://knowledge.threatconnect.com/docs/ownership-in-threatconnect) using basic search queries or using advanced search queries written in [ThreatConnect Query Language (TQL)](https://knowledge.threatconnect.com/docs/threatconnect-query-language-tql). You can also [create Victims](https://knowledge.threatconnect.com/docs/creating-victims); delete Victims individually or in bulk; and further investigate Victims that are of interest to you.

## Before You Start

### User Roles

- To view and search Victims in an Organization, your user account can have any [Organization role](https://knowledge.threatconnect.com/docs/organization-roles).
- To view and search Victims in a Community or Source, your user account must have a [Community role](https://knowledge.threatconnect.com/docs/community-roles) of User, Commenter, Contributor, Editor, or Director for that Community or Source.
- To delete Victims in an Organization, your user account must have an Organization role of Standard User, Sharing User, Organization Administrator, or App Developer.
- To delete Victims in a Community or Source, your user account must have a Community role of Editor or Director for that Community or Source.

## Viewing All Victims

When you first open the **Search: Victims**screen, it displays a table listing all Victims in your ThreatConnect owners. You can access the **Search: Victims**screen by selecting **Victims**from the **Search & Create**dropdown on the top navigation bar or by selecting the **Victims**filter in the left sidebar of the **Search**screen.

To view more details about a Victim, do one of the following:

- Click the Victim’s table row, or click the Victim’s [**Options ⋯**menu](/docs/searching-victims#victim-options) and select **View Details**, to open the Victim’s [**Details**drawer](https://knowledge.threatconnect.com/docs/the-details-drawer).
- Click the Victim’s name/summary to open the Victim’s [**Details**screen](https://knowledge.threatconnect.com/docs/the-details-screen-legacy).

HintYou can adjust the columns displayed in the table on the **Search: Victims**screen by clicking **Select columns![](https://cdn.document360.io/dfc206c8-1c9f-4725-b74d-a66f83432320/Images/Documentation/Select%20columns%20button.png)**in the upper right, selecting the columns to display, and clicking **Apply**.

## Searching and Filtering Victims

On the **Search: Victims**screen, you can search and filter Victims in your ThreatConnect owners by running the following types of searches:

- [Basic search](/docs/searching-victims#running-basic-searches)
- [Advanced search](/docs/searching-victims#running-advanced-searches)
- [Search using a saved query](/docs/searching-victims#running-searches-using-saved-queries)

To remove all filters and search criteria applied on the **Search: Victims**screen, click **Clear all filters & search![](https://cdn.document360.io/dfc206c8-1c9f-4725-b74d-a66f83432320/Images/Documentation/Clear%20all%20filters%20&%20search%20button.png)**in the upper right.

### Running Basic Searches

A basic search lets you search Victims using the search bar and **Filters**![](https://cdn.document360.io/dfc206c8-1c9f-4725-b74d-a66f83432320/Images/Documentation/Filters%20button_Details%20screen.png)menu on the **Search: Victims**screen. Follow these steps to run a basic search of Victims on the **Search: Victims**screen:

1. From the **Search & Create**dropdown on the top navigation bar, select **Victims**.
2. Configure a basic search query by doing the following:
  - Enter text into the search bar to [search Victims by name/summary](/docs/searching-victims#searching-by-namesummary). To run a [contains search](/docs/searching-victims#contains-search), leave the **Exact Match**checkbox cleared. To run an [exact match search](/docs/searching-victims#exact-match-search), select the **Exact Match**checkbox.
  - Use the owner dropdown and **Filters![](https://cdn.document360.io/dfc206c8-1c9f-4725-b74d-a66f83432320/Images/Documentation/Filters%20button_Details%20screen.png)**menu to [filter Victims](/docs/searching-victims#filtering-victims) by owner and Victim metadata, respectively.

As you configure a basic search query, the results table updates automatically based on the current search criteria.

#### Searching by Name/Summary

When searching Victims by name/summary on the **Search: Victims**screen, you can run two types of searches: [contains](/docs/searching-victims#contains-search) and [exact match](/docs/searching-victims#exact-match-search).

NoteName/summary searches are case insensitive.

##### Contains Search

A contains search lets you filter Victims based on whether their name/summary contains the text entered into the search bar on the **Search: Victims**screen. Use a contains search when you want to filter your dataset to find Victims that relate to a common keyword or phrase. Table 1 describes the search result behavior of a contains search for **jane doe**.

| Victim Name/Summary | Returned as Result? |
| --- | --- |
| Jane Doe | Yes, because the name/summary contains the entire phrase **jane doe**. |
| Jane Doe Holdings | Yes, because the name/summary contains the entire phrase **jane doe**. |
| Jane | No. Although the name/summary contains **jane**, it does not contain**doe**. |
| Doe Jane | No. Although the name/summary contains **jane**and **doe**, they are not in the same order as the phrase **jane doe**. |

To run a contains search on the **Search: Victims**screen, enter text into the search bar and leave the **Exact Match**checkbox cleared.

##### Exact Match Search

An exact match search lets you filter Victims based on whether their name/summary is an exact match to the text entered into the search bar on the **Search: Victims**screen. Use an exact match search when you want to search a large dataset for a specific object, as this type of search yields a more targeted set of search results. Table 2 describes the search result behavior of an exact match search for **jane doe**.

| Victim Name/Summary | Returned as Result? |
| --- | --- |
| Jane Doe | Yes, because the name/summary is an exact match to the phrase **jane doe**. |
| Jane Doe Holdings | No, because the name/summary is not an exact match to the phrase **jane doe**. |
| Jane | No, because the name/summary is not an exact match to the phrase **jane doe**. |
| Doe Jane | No. Although the name/summary contains **jane**and **doe**, they are not in the same order as the phrase **jane doe**. |

To run an exact match search on the **Search: Victims**screen, enter text into the search bar and select the **Exact Match**checkbox to the right of the search bar or surround the phrase in straight quotes.

ImportantThe search engine does not recognize smart quotes (`“”`). If you copied a search phrase from an application and pasted it into the search bar, replace all smart quotes with straight quotes (`"`) before running your search.

#### Filtering Victims

The **Search: Victims**screen provides the following options for filtering Victims when running basic searches:

- The owner dropdown next to the **Exact Match** checkbox lets you filter Victims by one or more owners. Victims are filtered automatically as you select options in the dropdown.
- The **Filters**![](https://cdn.document360.io/dfc206c8-1c9f-4725-b74d-a66f83432320/Images/Documentation/Filters%20button_Details%20screen.png)menu lets you filter Victims by Victim metadata. After selecting and configuring filters, click **Apply**. Victims may be filtered by the following metadata:
  - Tags
  - Organization
  - Sub-Organization
  - Nationality
  - Work Location
  - Security Labels
  - Attributes (**+ Add Filter** option at the lower left of the **Filters**![](https://cdn.document360.io/dfc206c8-1c9f-4725-b74d-a66f83432320/Images/Documentation/Filters%20button_Details%20screen.png)menu)

### Running Advanced Searches

An advanced search lets you search and filter Victims using a query written in [ThreatConnect Query Language (TQL)](https://knowledge.threatconnect.com/docs/threatconnect-query-language-tql). Advanced searches enable you to perform highly targeted searches of Victims using criteria that cannot be defined when running basic searches.

Follow these steps to run an advanced search of Victims on the **Search: Victims**screen:

1. From the **Search & Create**dropdown on the top navigation bar, select **Victims**.
2. Turn on the **Advanced Search**toggle above the search bar.
3. Enter a [TQL query](https://knowledge.threatconnect.com/docs/constructing-query-expressions) into the search bar. If you configured a basic search query before turning on the **Advanced Search**toggle, the query will be converted into a TQL query and populated in the search bar automatically.NoteIf you configured Attribute filters in a basic search query, the converted advanced search query will use the Attribute Type’s name in the `attribute` parameter by default (e.g., `attributeFinancial_Impact`). However, if the Attribute Type’s name contains characters other than letters, numbers, and spaces, the advanced search query will use the Attribute Type’s ID number instead of its name in the `attribute` parameter (e.g., `attribute123`). For more information on the `attribute` parameter, see the [“Query for Attributes” section in *Constructing Query Expressions*](https://knowledge.threatconnect.com/docs/constructing-query-expressions#query-for-attributes).HintYou can use the [TQL Generator](https://knowledge.threatconnect.com/docs/tql-generator) to translate plain-English prompts into TQL queries.
4. Click **Search![](https://cdn.document360.io/dfc206c8-1c9f-4725-b74d-a66f83432320/Images/Documentation/Search%20drawer%20icon.png)**to the right of the search bar, or press **Enter**on your keyboard, to run your search.NoteIf a TQL query is invalid, you can hover over the validator on the left side of the search bar to view the corresponding error message.NoteIf you run an advanced search using a query that matches a [saved query](https://knowledge.threatconnect.com/docs/saved-search-queries), the saved query will be selected in the **Select Saved Query…**dropdown automatically.

### Running Searches Using Saved Queries

When using the basic or advanced search features on the **Search: Victims**screen, you can run a search using a saved query. Follow these steps to use a saved query to search Victims on the **Search: Victims**screen:

1. From the **Search & Create**dropdown on the top navigation bar, select **Victims**.
2. From the **Select Saved Query…**dropdown in the upper right, select a saved query to run.

After you select a saved query, the **Advanced Search**toggle turns on and a search using the selected query runs automatically.

HintTo save basic or advanced search queries, click **Save Query**in the upper right of the **Search: Victims**screen. For more information, see [*Saved Search Queries*](https://knowledge.threatconnect.com/docs/saved-search-queries).

## Sorting Victims

You can sort Victims by any of the table columns except for the **Tags**column. By default, Victims are sorted by the **Name/Summary**column in alphabetical order.

## Deleting Victims in Bulk

Follow these steps to delete a set of Victims in bulk on the **Search: Victims**screen:

1. From the **Search & Create**dropdown on the top navigation bar, select **Victims**.
2. (Optional) Run a [basic](/docs/searching-victims#running-basic-searches) or [advanced](/docs/searching-victims#running-advanced-searches) search.
3. From the **Options** **⋯**menu in the upper-right corner, select **Delete Returned Objects…**.
4. On the **Delete Returned Objects**window, click **Delete** to delete all Victims in the results table. If you are deleting more than 50 Victims, you must enter “delete” (without quotation marks) into the **Confirm Deletion**field before you can click **Delete**.WarningAll Victims in the results set will be deleted, not just the Victims displayed on the current page of the results table.

## Victim Options

A Victim’s **Options ⋯**menu provides the following options for managing and analyzing the Victim:

- **View Details**: Open the Victim’s [**Details**drawer](https://knowledge.threatconnect.com/docs/the-details-drawer).HintYou can also open the Victim’s **Details**drawer by clicking on its table row.
- **Delete**: Delete the Victim from its owner. This option is available only if your user account has permission to delete Victims in the Victim’s owner.

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