5 Cybersecurity KPIs for Board of Directors

Here are 5 of the most significant KPIs for your board of directors to consider when determining metrics that indicate an adequate level of protection for your organization. 

1. Detected Intrusion Attempts 

Having a strong cybersecurity infrastructure that is capable of responding to threats quickly and effectively can play an even more important role in protecting your organization than keeping intrusion attempts from occurring at all. 

Gathering data surrounding the total number of intrusion attempts your organization receives during a particular month, quarter, or year, and tracking these results over time, gives you a clear indication of how well your cybersecurity system is blocking them. It also lets you know if your cybersecurity program improvements move the needle on reducing threats. 

2. Patch Response Time 

Cyberattacks often happen very quickly, which means that every second is crucial when it comes to identifying and responding to intrusion attempts. Although security patches do not necessarily provide a permanent resolution, applying them as quickly as possible plays a vital role in minimizing the damage that your organization or customers may experience if a data breach, DDoS attack, phishing, or another type of cyberattack does successfully penetrate your cybersecurity system. 

Patch response time is graded on an A-F scale. Frequently evaluate the grades your patching cadences receive to determine how likely your system is to be effective if a cyberattack occurs, and identify areas that are most in need of improvement. 

3. User Access Levels 

Not every member of your organization should have access to all of your organization’s data, and it is often not even necessary for your entire board of directors to have full access to all your programs, passwords, customer information, and other sensitive data. Carefully consider who needs to have access to certain types of information to effectively manage their responsibilities, and secure your user access levels by limiting individuals to only the necessary access they need to perform their duties.

4. Backup Cadence 

Even the strongest cybersecurity program can be breached. Having an adequate backup system in place before you need it, and continuously evaluating its effectiveness, is an important step in reducing the level of damage your organization is likely to sustain if you do experience an intrusion. 

Although the goal is that your backup cadence will not need to be used as frequently as other aspects of your cybersecurity system, defining goals for its strength and being just as diligent about evaluating them on a regular basis can go a long way toward protecting your organization if your primary system fails. 

5. Vendor Security Rating 

Any vendor or other third party your organization works with has the potential to inadvertently or intentionally become a cybersecurity threat. Your board of directors must carefully evaluate each program you are considering using or company you might want to work with to determine whether they take adequate cybersecurity measures to protect their partners. 

To improve your third-party risk management (TPRM) decisions, determine minimum vendor security ratings that partner vendors must meet before your organization will work with them.