With modern cyber threats rapidly evolving, over two-thirds of IT decision-makers are reportedly increasing budgets, according to a recent survey of 200 senior cybersecurity professionals conducted by Infosecurity Europe.
However, these measures can easily fall short without a united front from management and employees.
Cybersecurity is a complex subject, and its application and objectives can vary widely depending on industry, company size, and location. Furthermore, objectives will dictate which metrics and KPIs you should monitor.
This article will explain cybersecurity awareness KPIs and metrics, how to identify the ones you need to monitor, and how to measure them appropriately.
KPI vs. Metrics in Cybersecurity Awareness Training
A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a measurable value that indicates your organization’s success in achieving a critical cybersecurity goal, such as defending against phishing.
A metric, on the other hand, is a quantifiable gauge of a KPI's success. If a KPI is useful and tied to tangible results, it’ll be ideal to record and track it indefinitely.
In both cases, they should be classified for each stage of a successful cybersecurity training program, from compliance to behavior change and creating a cybersecurity-aware work culture.
Understanding Security Awareness Metrics
Cybersecurity awareness can be complex to assess properly and requires a clear plan to be successfully implemented. Any company's metrics can be divided into three categories based on when they are calculated.
An assessment should be done before cybersecurity training is implemented to establish a baseline. The same metrics should be compared once training is completed and again over a few years to identify behavioral changes.
Here are examples of common metrics for each category:
Before training
Before launching a cybersecurity awareness training program, you can conduct a company-wide quiz without prior training to establish a good baseline level of knowledge among your workforce. A phishing simulation is also a fantastic first step in assessing your organization's cybersecurity.
It’s also important to monitor the early participation rate and adjust accordingly. In the early stages, you can still rely on the excitement of the new program, with employees at their most engaged.
- Baseline security score
- Phishing simulation link clicks
- Early participation rate
After training
This measurement is crucial to understand whether your training is appropriate, engaging, and effective. Ideally, you’ll want to see marked increases in security scores with a high or perfect completion rate.
- Employee security score
- Security score per department
- Training completion rates
Yearly measurement
Cybersecurity awareness training isn’t a one-off program. It must be maintained and updated over the years to form an effective and flexible defense against rapidly evolving cyber threats.
Monitoring the evolution of security scores over the years will always be a good measure, but behavior changes are even more significant in this stage.
Increases in factors like proper password management, incident reporting rate, and multi-factor authentication are significant since they are voluntary behaviors that demonstrate an improved understanding of cybersecurity.
- Employee security score
- Incident reporting rate
- Improved password management
- Increased use of multi-factor authentication
- Frequency and type of security breaches
Establishing Cybersecurity Goals
For a cybersecurity training program to be successful, it must have clearly defined goals agreed upon by the executive team. These goals become the campaign's pillars and dictate the general topics discussed in training.
A common goal in this situation is often instilling a cybersecurity culture within your workforce.
However, this goal alone is too broad and must be supported by more tangible objectives, such as defending against phishing or training participation.
These goals must be tied to a relevant KPI and concrete activities, like hosting a lunch-and-learn session or running a phishing simulation, to help you achieve your objectives.
Utilizing this method allows you a lot of flexibility to react to your employees’ learning process. This process will also allow you to customize the information you communicate to each audience group based on seniority level and department.
Your executive team, for example, will need different data communicated to them than the managerial level. The responsibilities expected from each level of the workforce will also be different and must be considered during the cybersecurity training.
Choosing the Right Tools for Measurement
You can deliver cybersecurity training in many ways, but having a dedicated Learning Management System (LMS) is always a worthwhile investment. Not only does it dramatically improve completion and engagement rates, it also allows you to have a unified view of all the data you collect.
To further demonstrate the importance of your KPIs, it’s essential to keep your users and stakeholders up to date with regular reporting. This report could be as simple as an Excel sheet or integrated into your LMS or intranet, but make sure it is easily accessible at any time to people who wish to follow it.
Integrating Security Awareness Metrics into Your Strategy
The best virtue to have during a cybersecurity awareness campaign is patience. Behavioral shifts don’t happen overnight but are essential to creating a cybersecurity culture in your workforce. You must create a baseline of data and tie the results to graspable goals.
Don’t fall into the trap of only following training completion rates. Create a dynamic cybersecurity training program that includes various activities, tests, and quizzes to measure your employees’ cyber readiness regularly.
This variety makes the content more engaging and, ultimately, more successful. It also provides you with a wealth of data points to ensure you have a good overview of your campaign's success.
For more information on cybersecurity metrics and KPIs, watch this webinar hosted by Theo Zafirakos, CISO and Professional Services Lead at Terranova Security.
