Source: Rivial Security Blog
Author: Randy Lindberg
URL: https://www.rivialsecurity.com/blog/cybersecurity-metrics-for-the-board
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## ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY:
Effective cybersecurity board reporting requires focusing on meaningful, contextual metrics rather than superficial or overly technical data points.
## MAIN POINTS:
1. Avoid reporting the number of spam emails blocked; focus on employee training outcomes instead.
2. Replace qualitative risk measures with quantitative approaches like Monte Carlo Analysis for clearer risk communication.
3. Reporting additional security tools is less impactful than highlighting addressed cybersecurity gaps or mitigated risks.
4. Use adjusted vulnerability ratings instead of raw CVSS scores to better reflect real organizational risks.
5. Reporting perimeter attacks blocked offers limited value; focus on blocked attacks that breached the firewall.
6. Report the ratio of critical and high vulnerabilities patched, with trends, for actionable insights.
7. Overly technical metrics can confuse board members, reducing the effectiveness of cybersecurity communication.
8. Contextual reporting aligns cybersecurity metrics with organizational priorities, making them more relevant to board members.
9. Boards of financial institutions need actionable, clear cybersecurity data to fulfill regulatory oversight responsibilities.
10. A well-structured reporting template enhances the clarity and relevance of board-level cybersecurity discussions.
## TAKEAWAYS:
1. Focus cybersecurity reporting on employee training effectiveness and reduced human errors in phishing scenarios.
2. Quantitative risk analysis offers better clarity than qualitative ordinal scales for board-level presentations.
3. Highlight specific risk mitigation efforts over the mere addition of security tools or technologies.
4. Adjust and contextualize vulnerability ratings to reflect organizational relevance and exploitation likelihood.
5. Provide actionable insights by reporting trends and ratios in patching critical vulnerabilities.
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