6 Cybersecurity Metrics Every CISO Should Monitor
Cybersecurity monitoring is not a one-and-done, as attack surfaces and the methods used by malicious actors are constantly changing. By tracking the right cybersecurity metrics, Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) can monitor the effectiveness of security controls over time, evaluate team performance, and show return on investment (ROI) of cybersecurity investments at the board level.
Not all CISO metrics, however, are of equal worth. Security and business leaders can easily become inundated with data points that lack context and fail to communicate cybersecurity risks or the potential impact of identified threats meaningfully.
We compiled a list of key metrics that can help CISOs prioritize and maximize their security efforts, conduct more effective security reporting at the board of directors level, and make informed decisions to drive value and growth within their organizations.
1. Third-Party Risk
Security-first organizations recognize that vendor risk management drives virtually all areas of business. Many organizations need to quickly onboard new vendors to stay on the cutting edge of innovation. To support growth within their organizations, cybersecurity teams need to keep pace with business demands while identifying high-risk vulnerabilities that can stem from external partners.
Both infosec and non-security teams—such as legal and procurement—require quick access to third-party risk metrics to perform timely due diligence and avoid costly bottlenecks in vendor onboarding and acquisition processes.
Security ratings platforms provide valuable insight throughout the lifespan of vendor engagements. With the immediate visibility gained through security ratings, companies can follow a best-in-class approach to vendor selection, ensuring that new vendors align with the organization’s cybersecurity posture and security policies.
Security teams can then continuously monitor vendor security posture after the initial due diligence process and receive automatic alerts on potential security incidents, including unauthorized access attempts and changes to risk levels.
2. Benchmarking
While raw data is important for tracking security performance, it doesn’t tell the whole story. Running down exhaustive lists of event data, critical vulnerabilities, and unpatched systems won’t necessarily reveal the potential impact of those data points or the likelihood of an adverse event. Like all areas of business performance, cybersecurity data needs to be considered within the context of industry peers and best practices.
Security ratings allow companies to evaluate their own cybersecurity posture as well as that of their competitors. This comparative analysis helps organizations identify security threats, prioritize high-risk vulnerabilities, and align their cybersecurity strategy with industry trends.
With native board-level summary reports, CISOs can easily access detailed and contextualized information accessible to non-technical stakeholders, helping them make informed decisions and guiding the board of directors through quantifiable measures of security investments.
3. Training
Security policies require a well-informed workforce. Security awareness training helps employees identify cybersecurity threats such as phishing emails, intrusion attempts, and potential security incidents. Employees learn to set strong passwords, recognize malicious content, and navigate online environments safely.
However, training is only effective if it’s completed. Monitoring the percentage of employees who have completed cybersecurity training provides security leaders with a measurable key metric for insider threat risk and the effectiveness of security controls.
Teams managing cybersecurity strategies can ensure employees are kept up to date on software patches, endpoint security, and compliance requirements. This reduces the risk of unauthorized access attempts and increases overall cybersecurity effectiveness.
4. Incident Response
Evaluating incident response times is a vital CISO metric that measures how quickly cyber incidents are detected and addressed.
The speed of detection and containment directly correlates with damage control and operational resilience. Faster detection and containment of security threats, like intrusion attempts or attack vectors, reduce the potential impact of breaches.
Incident detection systems and tools like antivirus software play a critical role in reducing the average time to respond and contain issues. Analyzing cyber threat response workflows allows organizations to streamline processes, allocate resources efficiently, and improve overall vulnerability management.
False positives and negatives must also be considered, as they can hinder teams’ confidence and divert focus away from actual potential security incidents.
5. Personnel
In addition to many of the quantitative performance metrics often discussed by security professionals, CISOs should consider the qualitative. Cybersecurity teams face increasing workloads, which can lead to burnout and human error. Ensuring appropriate staffing levels and workload distribution reduces the likelihood of mistakes in vulnerability management and security program operations.
Ensuring appropriate staffing levels and time allocation is critical. In addition to monitoring common employee satisfaction indicators such as low turnover and high productivity and engagement, managers can visit websites where current and former employees rate their experience at their companies to better understand what makes a workplace thrive.
6. Return on Investment (ROI)
CISOs must help the board of directors understand the value of cybersecurity investments and align spending with the organization’s risk profile. When deciding how much to spend to protect digital assets, business leaders must consider their value and the likelihood of sustaining a data breach.
Security ratings are an excellent indicator of the relative risk of sustaining a breach, which helps boards make informed, risk-based decisions on spending. By aligning ROI with tangible outcomes, CISOs can show the effectiveness of vulnerability scans, incident response times, and software patches in reducing risks.
How Security Ratings Can Help
As the threat landscape continues to change, cybersecurity metrics help organizations ensure that their security controls are effective over time. Security ratings allow CISOs to continuously monitor their cybersecurity effectiveness, track high-risk vulnerabilities across third-party networks, and identify potential attack vectors.
By communicating risk levels in universally understood terms, security ratings allow cybersecurity teams to align their efforts, streamline vulnerability management, and drive informed decisions at the board level.
