How GovIntel Works
Re-assessment
Running the assessment again, what carries forward from last time, and the window beyond which a comparison can no longer be made.
An account can be assessed again. The second pack states not only where the account stands, but what has changed since the last one.
What carries forward
One file: an assessment snapshot, written beside each pack and read by the next run. The comparison is computed from two stored measurements and is never inferred from the current assessment alone.
The snapshot stores no customer identifiers. Control identifiers are the scanner's, resource identity is carried as fingerprints, and the account identifier is fingerprinted too. It names no resource and no account, which is what makes retaining it for longer than the raw evidence defensible.
The comparison window
The snapshot is retained for 90 days by default. A re-assessment more than roughly three months after the previous one finds no predecessor and correctly renders as a first assessment. Nothing is fabricated in that case, and the pack says which situation it is in.
What does not carry forward
Your access does not automatically reopen. A re-assessment against an engagement whose expiry has passed needs the window re-opened first, which is an update to the existing stack rather than a new one. See If your account already has GovIntel access.
Reading the difference
See What changed since the last assessment, and in particular the state called not re-assessed, which is the one that matters most.