Cyber
RQ-010 — Business-Centric Cybersecurity KPIs
Framework of executive and operational metrics that quantify risk reduction, resilience, and program health beyond volume counting.
English Gabriel Rondon
Abstract
Traditional dashboards count blocked attacks and closed tickets, leaving boards unconvinced that security protects revenue. This paper proposes a two-tier KPI stack: six executive indicators tracking protected value, resilience, recovery commitments, and third-party assurance, plus eleven operational metrics that monitor detection, response, remediation, and platform hygiene. Each KPI includes a formula, rationale, suggested targets, and canonical data sources so CISOs can run repeatable math that ties spend to loss avoidance.
Research Notes
- Anchors every executive KPI in business outcomes—expected loss avoided, availability of crown-jewel processes, and resilience scoring.
- Operational section covers MTTR/MTTD distributions, restore success rates, automation coverage, vulnerability flow, and team capacity signals.
- Emphasizes stable, annual KPI definitions while allowing weekly operational tuning, ensuring the board narrative stays consistent.
- Provides guidance on data pipelines (SIEM, SOAR, ITSM, CMDB, IAM) and governance requirements to keep formulas auditable.