Monitoring cybersecurity has become an absolute necessity for every organisation. The safeguarding of private information, prevention of data breaches and identifying cybersecurity vulnerabilities is exceptionally important for business network security and continuity. A well defined set of key performance indicators (KPIs) can make all the difference.
These KPIs guide decisions and enable companies to evaluate the success of their cybersecurity policies. PWC reports, despite rising cybersecurity threats, only 22% of CEOs believe they are at risk of their data being exposed. Unbelievably, this figure has not changed for the past ten years. The EY Global Information Security Survey also shows that just 15% of companies feel their InfoSec reporting completely satisfies their needs.
This article lists important cybersecurity metrics your company should monitor to stay ahead of the evolving risks, control vendor risk, and increase cybersecurity defenses.
Define KPIs and Cybersecurity Metrics
The cybersecurity metrics and cybersecurity key performance indicators(KPIs) offer measurable data that assists with assessing the degree to which a company is identifying, responding, and avoiding cyberattacks.
Cybersecurity metrics encompass many aspects such as, speed of incident and the number of attempted breaches blocked. KPIs provide a broader view of the company’s security posture and track general cyber risk reduction and improvements in compliance. When combined, the KPIs and metrics provide an overall picture of your organization’s cybersecurity posture, identifying strengths and areas that require improvement.
Why are Information Security Metrics Important?
Whether you’re monitoring incident response times, vendor risk ratings, or employee security training completion rates, the correct cybersecurity metrics and KPIs enable you to focus on the most important security aspects that impact your business efficiency and productivity, providing you with the requisite data to make educated decisions.
Metrics in information security convert unprocessed data into insightful analysis. By revealing the shortcomings, strengths, and vulnerabilities of an organization, metrics help you to make data-driven decisions.
Cybersecurity Metrics for the Board
It is vital that board members and stakeholders of an organization understand the cybersecurity posture. This is attained by collecting and visualising the cybersecurity metrics and KPIs that directly impact business risks and performance. The business risks can be summarised into these categories; profitability, reputation, compliance, business continuity, product and service performance levels.
Key cybersecurity metrics for the board might include:
- Cost of cyber events
- Tim required to identify and mitigate risks
- Compliance of regulations
- Automated incident response
- Vendor Risk Control
These indicators provide your board with a clear perspective of how cybersecurity is being handled in line with the overall corporate strategy, therefore facilitating simpler support of ongoing cybersecurity initiatives.
KPIs in Cybersecurity Monitoring
These are examples of well defined KPIs and metrics that will provide insight to stakeholders. Following these guidelines will assist with improving system performance, preventing cybersecurity attacks and raising cybersecurity benchmarks.
1. Total Number of Incidents
Over a specified period, this KPI looks at the total number of security events; including but not limited to phishing attempts, malware infections, or breaches and brute force attacks. Monitoring these events enables companies to evaluate the frequency and scope of cyberattacks targeting their infrastructure.
High incidence rates may point to inadequate protection measures or too many attack vectors exposed to the public; low incidence rates may point to successful preventive measures. Frequent tracking helps assess the general risk exposure and security posture by revealing areas for improvement in threat detection and response capability.
2. Mean Time to Detection (MTTD)
MTTD gauges, on average, how long it takes to find security incidents after they have occurred. Faster identification can reduce the effect of possible breaches by improving response and remediation times. A reduced MTTD shows that real-time threat detection and intrusion detection tools in an organization’s monitoring system are effective.
Longer detection times can cause more damage, hence companies work to lower MTTD by means of better detection technologies, automation, and threat hunting features. Tracking this KPI is essential to establishing a robust threat detection system.
3. Mean Time to Respond (MTTR)
Mean Time to Respond (MTTR) measures the average time it takes from identifying a security event to taking the necessary actions to remediate it. It gauges how well the incident response team and procedures of the company work. A lower MTTR indicates that the team is ready and can rapidly identify and rectify issues, therefore lowering the potential damage.
High MTTR values point to response inefficiencies, which can let attackers take advantage of weaknesses for longer durations. Optimizing MTTR calls for improving response processes, using automated technologies, and guaranteeing a well-trained staff that are capable of quick decision-making under duress.
4. Patch Management Compliance Level
This KPI measures the percentage of systems within the organisation that are updated with the most recent security patches. Compliance is dependent on organizational policies and the benchmarks that need to be met. Effective patch management practices reduce risks by securing known vulnerabilities of the previous system.
Compliance indicates systems are regularly updated, while noncompliance raises the threat level of cyberattacks. Continuous monitoring allows you to identify and implement important updates, therefore lowering the risk posed by outdated software and improving the security posture of the network.
5. Attack Success Rate in Phishing
This KPI measures the percentage of staff members who fall victim to simulated phishing awareness campaigns. Phishing is still one of the most popular attack vectors, where individuals are fooled into disclosing private information.
Lower success rates indicate successful cybersecurity training and awareness campaigns. On the other hand, higher success rates indicate flaws in staff awareness or training, signaling the need for targeted education to prevent this ongoing risk.
6. Number of Vulnerabilities Found
This KPI counts the number of vulnerabilities found in an organisation’s IT infrastructure management. This provides insight into the security vulnerabilities available to cybercriminals. Early identification and resolution of vulnerabilities help reduce the risk of attacks and data breaches.
Regular vulnerability assessments, including automated scans and penetration testing are crucial for the proactive identification of security vulnerabilities. Monitoring this KPI ensures security teams prioritise and address vulnerabilities and lower the attack surface and strengthen the security of the company.
7. Security Incident Cost
This KPI the financial impact of security breaches. Some of the associated costs include; direct costs such as regulatory penalties and legal fees and indirect costs such as reputational damage and loss of client trust. Understanding the total cost of a cybercrime enables companies to evaluate the return of the investment of cybersecurity expenditures.
High expenses related to breaches could suggest that efforts focused on detection, prevention, response and remediation require improvement. Understanding the financial risk of cybersecurity incidents and the related expenditures to prevent provides the necessary data to make informed security and risk management decisions.
8. Data Loss Prevention (DLP): Incident Count
This KPI tracks the number of events involving unauthorized access, exposure or of private information or intellectual property. Whether inadvertent or intentional, DLP solutions are absolutely essential for safeguarding private information from leaks or breaches.
A high incidence indicates potential flaws within data security policies, access control, or employee behaviour. By monitoring this KPI, companies can evaluate the success of their DLP policies and ensure sensitive data is adequately protected, and reduce the risk of compliance violations or damage to reputation.
9. Employee Security Training Completion Rate
This KPI gauges the proportion of staff members that have completed cybersecurity training courses. Preventing social engineering attacks-such as phishing, which frequently targets human weaknesses-requires employee awareness.
High training completion rates indicate a well-educated workforce, which increases employees’ likelihood of noticing and reporting cybersecurity attacks.
Simulated attacks, tests, and regular training help to keep security consciousness intact. By keeping an eye on this KPI, all staff members are up to date on the most recent security concerns and best practices, therefore promoting a security culture inside the company.
10. Percentage of Protected Endpoints
This KPI monitors the percentage of endpoints in an organization-including servers, laptops, and cellphones-that are encrypted, are protected by firewalled, have antivirus installed, and otherwise protected. High protection coverage lessens the possibility of malware or ransomware compromising an endpoint.
Tracking this KPI guarantees that security software is current and that endpoints-often targets of attacks-are sufficiently protected. More secured endpoints mean a stronger protection against assaults trying to pass through weak devices.
Regular tracking of these KPIs enables companies to evaluate their cybersecurity application performance monitoring and pinpoint areas needing development.
Selecting the Appropriate Cybersecurity Metrics
The correct collection of cybersecurity KPIs and KRIs cannot be determined using any objective criterion. Your industry, security requirements, rules (NIST, GDPR, HIPAA, etc), guidelines, best practices, and finally your and your customer’s tolerance for risk will determine your metric of choice.
Apart from the previously mentioned KPIs, the CIS Controls offer a reasonably priced, prioritized list of security controls meant to enhance cybersecurity performance both inside and across the vendor threat environment.
Having said that, you should pick metrics that everyone-including non-technical stakeholders-can clearly understand. Generally speaking, if your non-technical stakeholders find them difficult, you either have to choose other metrics or improve your communication of them. Industry comparisons and benchmarks help to make even difficult metrics clear-cut.
In an executive meeting, keep in mind that cost is the most crucial factor to pay attention to when referencing cybersecurity metrics. These briefings are meant to show how cybersecurity is saving the company money. It is highly advised that you compliment your presentation using a cybersecurity executive report for optimum results.
Conclusion
Any company trying to improve its security posture and reduce risks has to track important cybersecurity KPIs and metrics. Companies can assess their It services and support of cybersecurity policies by tracking security performance indicators including mean time to notice and respond, patch management compliance rate, and number of discovered events.
Additional important KPIs like employee training completion rate and phishing attack success rate help raise awareness and readiness. Frequent review of these indications helps companies to spot areas of weakness, simplify actions, and make wise decisions-all of which help to build defenses against changing cyber threats and therefore minimize possible financial and reputational damage.