Cybersecurity Metrics Your Organization Should Track

In an era dominated by digital landscapes and cyber threats, organizations must remain vigilant in safeguarding their sensitive data and digital assets. Cybersecurity is no longer an option; it’s a necessity. To effectively manage and enhance your organization’s cybersecurity posture, tracking the right Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) is paramount. These metrics provide valuable insights into the effectiveness, efficiency, and resilience of your security measures. Here are some critical cybersecurity metrics your organization should track to stay ahead of potential threats and breaches.

• Mean time to respond (MTTR): This measures the time it takes for your cybersecurity solutions and team to respond after detecting a cybersecurity incident. A low MTTR is critical to reducing the impact of cybersecurity incidents. MTTR can also be broken down by severity or priority.
• Number of false positives: False positives are cybersecurity alerts triggered by benign events rather than actual cybersecurity incidents. Excessive false positives can lead to alert fatigue, decreasing your team’s effectiveness.
• Number of escalations: Escalations occur when an incident is passed from one team or analyst to another for further investigation. A high number of escalations may indicate that your cybersecurity team is understaffed or that analysts need more training.
• Number of incidents resolved: This measures the number of cybersecurity incidents successfully resolved by your cybersecurity systems. It indicates the effectiveness of the systems in protecting the organization from cybersecurity threats.
• Phishing Susceptibility Rate: Tracking the percentage of employees who fall prey to phishing attempts can gauge the effectiveness of your awareness training and the need for ongoing education. A decreasing susceptibility rate indicates improved awareness and resilience against phishing attacks.

Of course, measuring these KPIs is easier said than done. It’s important to remember that cybersecurity includes multiple technical and administrative components working together to maintain the core principles of confidentiality, integrity, and availability. It takes someone with cybersecurity experience to take the important information gleaned from the dashboards and turn it into usable insights.

Information used in this article was provided by our partners at ConnectWise.