Metrics: Your Security Yardstick – Part 2 – Defining Metrics

Security metrics fall into effort, result, and environment types—from training hours to days since the last breach. Tracking them proves program value and helps justify budgets to leadership.

NetSPI presented at Secure360 on formalizing enterprise vulnerability management, arguing few organizations manage vulnerabilities, and released a white paper outlining a four-phase approach.

Preparing for an audit can be one of the best ways to fund and improve your security program, but this “stimulus package” for your compliance effort typically dwindles once an organization completes or passes an audit.

A pentest is a time-boxed, authorized attack where ethical hackers chain flaws to prove exploitable risk, not just run scans. It outlines deliverables, audit drivers, and when to test.

Long-term penetration testing vendor partnerships bring efficiency gains, historical vulnerability trends, and deeper risk insight, outweighing the occasional value of rotating providers for fresh eyes.

Penetration testing simulates real-world attacks to find exploitable weaknesses, while vulnerability scanning automates detection of known issues. Combining both strengthens defenses and compliance.