10/25/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 10/25/2024 11:22
Identifying human risk and establishing more resilient defenses have become essential in any organization's daily operations. Yet, the path to protection is often bumpy. While there's no universal consensus on which techniques an enterprise should use to track progress, organizations that identify relevant metrics and KPIs are far more likely to build a better human risk management program than those that do not.
What's needed is visibility into the things that matter most to specific groups along with technology that supports the metrics and KPI framework organizations need. Unfortunately, when it comes to providing visibility into human risk and cybersecurity operations, many vendors fall short, leaving their customers needing a better solution.
A starting point for establishing improved human risk management is to recognize that cybersecurity metrics and KPIs are crucial because they provide the insight needed to identify human risk within an organization. However, the terms cybersecurity metrics and KPIs are often used synonymously - though they actually mean different things. The former represents tactical and often day-to-day measurement of results while the latter revolves around strategic and general measures of success.
In practical terms, KPIs are best used to drive strategic decision-making, particularly in regard to long-term objectives. These criteria are most valuable for CIOs, CSOs, CISOs, and others who guide budgets and the overall strategic direction of an organization. They focus on what's working, what's not working, and where improvements are possible.
However, it's impossible to put effective KPIs in place without metrics to support them - and essentially feed in the data that's required. Metrics deliver the quantitative data that demonstrates whether a tool, program, or initiative is performing well. At times, it may be necessary to change metrics, and it's important to use appropriate metrics for each group or department.
For example, IT and security groups might measure criteria such as unidentified devices on internal networks, intrusion attempts versus the actual number of security incidents, and incident response data. All of these measurements are necessary to determine if human risk management and cybersecurity operations efforts are effective. Team members, meanwhile, can be held accountable for how often they click on bad links or violate regulatory controls such as data privacy protections. Identifying human risk factors and the team members that pose the biggest threat can lead to proper training which will help avoid future incidents.
Likewise, a board of directors and senior executives are likely to examine metrics surrounding human risk, training efficacy, cyber resilience, and cyber exposure. Meanwhile, a finance group would likely focus on factors such as risk reduction costs per unit, loss-to-value ratios, and control costs per IT asset.
It's important to recognize that not all risks are equal, just as the risk posed by each individual user is not equal. Research indicates that 80 percent of all security issues are caused by just eight percent of users. It's just as important to recognize that no tool, technology, framework, or procedure can deliver a 100% guarantee that an organization will remain secure. Metrics must match the acceptable risk exposure level for a device, system, or department and its users - and an organization must have a way to constantly gauge incidents, risks, and the liabilities each user poses in this context.
Yet, with metrics in place, business leaders and security teams can make more informed decisions - particularly regarding the overall effectiveness of a human risk management program and what it costs. They also are in a better position to understand specific tools and technology, and which solutions deliver maximum benefits. Along with a dashboard that delivers critical security data, there must be mechanism in place for transforming this technical data into strategic information that business analysts and the C-suite can use, as well as security teams attempting to identify human risk factors.
Several high-level metrics and KPIs are commonly used to improve human risk management and cybersecurity operations. Among those that matter the most:
Improving human risk management and cybersecurity operations requires focus, vigilance, the right technology, and proven training methods. Identifying useful metrics and achieving adequate visibility to apply them across all of an organization's IT and security assets, as well as across all users, can be challenging. But organizations that understand which metrics really matter for specific groups - as well as the KPIs that drive performance overall - are equipped to reduce risk and avoid potentially crippling attacks. Read more about how Mimecast's Human Risk Management Platform can support your performance measurement.
**This blog was originally published on October 27, 2022.