Many IT leaders measure their data management maturity based on resilience: the ability to adapt and respond quickly to disruptive events. There are three flavors of resilience. Today, we'll focus on improving your security posture — intermediate data management maturity with cyber resilience.
Cyber resilience is the ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from cyberattacks—essentially, to withstand them. This is usually the role of an InfoSec or DevSecOps team, and is central to the responsibilities of CIOs and CISOs.
(Data resilience, discussed previously
, pertains to the ability to recover and maintain data integrity in the face of disruptions or losses.)
KPIs for cyber resilience
should include:
- Time to Detect (TTD): This metric measures the time it takes to detect a cyber threat or breach once it has occurred. A shorter TTD indicates more efficient threat detection processes.
- Time to Respond (TTR): TTR measures the time it takes to respond to and mitigate a cyber incident after it’s been detected. A lower TTR signifies a faster and more effective incident response.
- Incident Response Plan Effectiveness: This metric assesses how well your organization’s incident response plan performs during real incidents. It includes factors like containment, eradication, and recovery speed.
- Number of Incidents: Tracking the number of cyber incidents over time provides insight into the overall threat landscape and your vulnerability to attacks.
- Attack Surface: Measuring your organization’s attack surface, including the number of exposed services, endpoints, and vulnerabilities, helps identify areas that need better security controls.
- Patch Management Metrics: Monitoring the time it takes to apply critical patches and the percentage of systems that are up to date helps ensure vulnerabilities are addressed promptly.
- Vulnerability Management Metrics: Tracking the time it takes to remediate vulnerabilities after discovery and the number of unpatched vulnerabilities can help assess your ability to manage its risk exposure.
- Mean Time to Contain (MTTC): Measures your organization’s ability to contain identified attack vectors across all endpoints and systems from the time of initial detection.
- Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Metrics: Monitoring incidents related to data leaks or unauthorized data transfers helps ensure sensitive information is adequately protected.
- Endpoint Security Metrics: Tracking the number of malware infections, blocked threats, and the health of endpoint security solutions provides insights into your organization’s endpoint protection.
- Cybersecurity Maturity Assessment Scores: Regularly assessing your organization’s cybersecurity maturity against established frameworks (e.g., NIST Cybersecurity Framework) provides a holistic view of the organization’s preparedness.
Next week, we'll continue this three-part series. Stay tuned!
