Cybersecurity Risk: Are Your KRIs Effective Enough?

Okay, lets talk cybersecurity risk, specifically, are those Key Risk Indicators (KRIs) actually working for you? I mean, seriously, are they just window dressing or are they, you know, doing something useful?

See, we all know cybersecurity is a big deal. Like, really big.

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(Breaches are expensive! And embarrassing!).

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Every company, from the corner bakery to a multinational corporation, has to worry about hackers, phishing scams, and all sorts of digital nastiness. So, naturally, we put in place all these controls and measures, and then we track them with KRIs, right?

But heres the rub. managed it security services provider Are we tracking the right things? You could have a KRI that says, "Number of employees completing cybersecurity awareness training: 100%." Fantastic! Everyone clicked through the slides and answered the quizzes. But did they learn anything? Can they actually identify a dodgy email? Or are they just clicking through to get back to their TikTok videos? (Oops, did I say that out loud?).

Thats where the "effective enough" part comes in. A KRI might look good on paper. It might even show improvement month after month. But if its not actually reducing your real risk, whats the point?

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Its like, you know, putting a band-aid on a broken leg. It covers the problem, but it doesnt fix it.

One of the biggest problems I see is that companies often choose KRIs that are easy to measure, not KRIs that are actually meaningful. For example, “Number of security patches applied.” managed service new york check Great!

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But (are those patches actually effective against the latest threats? check Or are they just the easy ones that dont break anything?) We need to dig deeper, look at the vulnerability reduction, the potential impact of unpatched systems, not just the sheer number of updates installed.

Another thing (and this is a big one!) is that KRIs need to be dynamic. managed services new york city What worked last year might not be relevant this year. The threat landscape is constantly evolving, so your KRIs need to evolve with it. If youre still tracking the same metrics you were tracking five years ago, youre probably missing some serious risks. Also, who is reviewing the KRIs? Is it just a report that gets filed away or are people actively using it to make decisions and improve security posture!

So, how do you make sure your KRIs are effective? Well, start by asking yourself some tough questions:

• What are our biggest cybersecurity risks, really?


• What data can we collect that will actually tell us if those risks are being mitigated?


• Are we measuring the outcome or just the activity?


• How often are we reviewing and updating our KRIs?


• Are we using the KRI data to actually make changes to our security strategy?

If you can answer those questions honestly, and if youre willing to be critical of your existing KRIs, youll be well on your way to having a cybersecurity risk management program thats not just a checkbox exercise, but a real tool for protecting your business. And isnt that the whole point anyway?!