WDTD 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 | 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁 #𝟯𝟲𝟭
During a recent discussion with a Board member, I was asked:
“𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴?”
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:
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗻𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀?
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:
✔️ Number of findings closed
✔️ Number of trainings completed
✔️ Number of controls implemented
But rarely tracking:
✔️ Reduction in business risk
✔️ Reduction in attack paths
✔️ Reduction in privileged exposure
✔️ Reduction in recovery time
✔️ Reduction in likelihood of material impact
Those are very different conversations.
The organizations making the biggest progress today are shifting from:
“𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗼?”
to
“𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘄𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲𝗿?”
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:
𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝗳 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗮𝘄 𝗶𝘁?
If the answer is unclear, the metric may be measuring activity rather than security.
And activity is not the same thing as risk reduction.
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