Why is security metrics important?

The implementation of security metrics is one way of measuring the effectiveness of a company’s security program. There are CEOs from various industries who still do not realize the importance of having these metrics in their system. These are people who think that these metrics are just time-consuming. Some of the CEOs just might not know where to start when it comes to building the metrics program. However, you should remember that the development and delivery of programs and services with results can be measured. Thus, these should include security as well.

It is a fact that almost all companies have their ups and downs in various points of the year. One day, they are here. The next day, they are gone. The core of every business, as what most constituents and colleagues believe, is having good performance metrics and carefully planned programs. However, they do not see the fact that the strong need for security is there. No one can really tell how long a company would go until the right metrics have been presented to foresight the company’s security.

Financial markets, banks, and shareholders would actually demand to monitor your company performance, whether your company is privately owned or publicly operating. The insurance rates that your firm gets depend on metrics for risk management. Over the past few years, there have been regulations on security emerging, and your company has complied with the requirements using specific measurements.

In creating useful metrics, you can gather data from everywhere, since these are all associated metrics. These are the systems you keep an eye on, like the situations that you count, requested projects that are funded to meet security goals, risks and false alarms projected. These elements inside the organization are interlinked and affect each other from side to side. Confidential business information must also be protected against potential risks of technology breakdowns. For instance, tons of information loaded in a database must be secured from hackers or virus threats. These are also other things related with security.

Testing or measuring security awareness is also connected in designing a security program. Employees must be tested and their awareness on their security responsibilities must be identified as well. Similarly, the people inside the firm must be conscious about the security around the system for this take a huge part in the efficiency of human productivity. New and updated guidelines in creating metrics for security have been presented to the business world to meet security requirements.

The metrics for security will be valuable and meaningful if they produce proven or quantifiable data, like results in percentages or averages. Another thing to remember is that the metrics should be within the reach of recurring processes. And lastly, the metrics must be useful in following and evaluating performance as well as resources. For organizations that are mainly concerned with IT security, there are also guidelines on how they can develop effective metrics security. Examples are the firewall policies, Bluetooth security, and applications using hash algorithms for security.

Security metrics are all around us and are within our reach. Do not compromise your company’s stability by neglecting these metrics that would save your time and your entire business.