CR ๐๐ป๐๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ | ๐ฃ๐ผ๐๐ #๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ญ
During a recent discussion with a Board member, I was asked:
“๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐๐ฒ ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด?”
It’s a fair question.
Most organizations can tell you:
- How many vulnerabilities were patched
- How many alerts were generated
- How many phishing emails were blocked
- How many security tools were deployed
But very few can answer a much more important question:
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ธ ๐ป๐ผ ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐?
That’s where many cybersecurity programs struggle.
We measure activity.
We report volume.
We celebrate completion.
But risk doesn’t care how busy we are.
A security team can close 10,000 vulnerabilities and still leave the one vulnerability that matters.
A SOC can process thousands of alerts and still miss the attack that changes everything.
A company can spend millions on technology and still be vulnerable to a simple business email compromise.
The issue isn’t effort.
The issue is measurement.
In audits, I often see organizations tracking:
โ๏ธ Number of findings closed
โ๏ธ Number of trainings completed
โ๏ธ Number of controls implemented
But rarely tracking:
โ๏ธ Reduction in business risk
โ๏ธ Reduction in attack paths
โ๏ธ Reduction in privileged exposure
โ๏ธ Reduction in recovery time
โ๏ธ Reduction in likelihood of material impact
Those are very different conversations.
The organizations making the biggest progress today are shifting from:
“๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ผ?”
to
“๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ?”
That’s a subtle difference.
But it changes everything.
Because cybersecurity isn’t a technology outcome.
It’s a business outcome.
The next time you review a security dashboard, ask one simple question:
๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐?
If the answer is unclear, the metric may be measuring activity rather than security.
And activity is not the same thing as risk reduction.