SECURITY METRICS

A presentation developed by Cydney Davis, Senior Technical Writer

What are Metrics?

A method which facilitates decision-making and improved performance and accountability through collection, analysis and reporting of performance-related data.

Information Security metrics must be:• based on Information Security performance goals

and objectives• useful for reduction and management of risks• readily obtainable and replicable• useful for tracking performance and directing

resources• able to yield quantifiable information

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It is critical that we use metrics that are relevant to our organization and to the mission we are measuring.

But first, we have to determine:• Where we are (Baseline)• Where we are going (End Goals)• Who/what relies on us?

(Users/Management)• What do they need/expect?

(Reports/Assurance)• What are we trying to prove?• What are we trying to solve?• What are we trying to improve?

What is our Mission/Goal?3

How can we use Metrics?

Communicate PerformanceDrive Performance ImprovementMeasure Effectiveness of Security

ControlsHelp Diagnose ProblemsProvide Effective Decision-making

SupportIncrease AccountabilityGuide Resource AllocationDemonstrate the state of complianceFacilitate Benchmark Comparisons

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Metrics can help determine:

• the number of resources it takes to accomplish security goals

• justifiability for financing new security measures• If the company is getting its money’s worth• If the company is managing risk appropriately*• what Information Security needs to do to

improve Security ˉ administration/processes/procedures/

policies/personnel/enhancements/technology/etc.)

• where we are with comparisons to peers regarding to standards, best practices, execution and results of security measures

*The residual risk that a company is willing to take based on; business needs, budget limits, industry regulations/requirements and other criteria.

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Building the Security Metrics Program

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“The heart of it is that if a business process cannot be measured in one way or another, we likely ought to cast it off as wasted effort.”

Comment from a CEO to an anonymous Information Security Professional

Translation: Why do it if we can’t prove/justify its value?

(time, money, effort, results and actions)

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Executive Focus

Good Metrics Guidelines

•Consistently Measured •apples to apples/same time same place

•Cheap to Produce (Time-wise)•Yield Quantifiable Information•Contextually Specific – who •Expressed using at least 2 units of measure or data points

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Identify incident trends important to key senior managers, stakeholders and to the InfoSec Mission from a management perspective.*

Provide consistent information that adds value and is actionable by:

• Tracking changes on a consistent basis.

• Focusing on what's important in our business

• Developing a few value indicators that we can track with a high degree of reliability

• Doing some service benchmarking with our peers.

Metrics Program Success Criteria

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*This is the first and most important decision

Basic Information Security Measures

Anti-malware Firewalls Asset Management

Intrusion Detectionand Prevention

Anti-SPAM Patch Management

Vulnerability Management

Unified Threat Management

Application Security Scanners

Databases Website Statistics

Network Access Control

System Integrity Checking

Operating Systems

Data Leakage Protection

Configuration Hardening

Secure Web Gateways

Web Application Firewalls

Mobile Data Protection

Media Sanitation

Storage Encryption

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Formula for Deriving True Meaning

Determine how the information will be analyzed, interpreted and used!

•C-Level•Board of Directors•Marketing Releases•Industry Report•General Staff

•Financial•Governance•Legal•Regulatory•Directive

DATADATADATADATADATA

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WHY we need to measure it

WHAT we need to measure

WHO we aremeasuring it for

“Good metrics facilitate discussion, insight and analysis...”

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Metrics Program - Components

Program Component

Define the metrics program goal(s) and objectives

Decide which metrics to generate

Develop strategies for generating the metrics

Establish benchmarks and targets

Determine how the metrics will be reported

Create an action plan and act on it

Establish a formal program review/refinement cycle

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Obtain management input, agreement and support for the

implementation of a strong metrics program.

Review our organization’s mission statements, policies, plans, procedures, goals

and objectives, and assess them against legislative and regulatory requirements,

as well as against effectiveness goals.

Describe how we will achieve company and department goals

List milestones, dates and quantifiable objectives against which to map

progress.

Select appropriate, quantifiable effectiveness metrics to indicate

baseline, interim and final success.

Gather the metrics.

Analyze and present the results to management and key stakeholders.

Recommend that management make decisions based on the metrics, and

plan the execution of these decisions. * Metrics are often referred to as

“decision support.”

Evaluate the outcome of decisions against goals. This should be done from a

perspective of effectiveness.

High Level Process Steps

*The real value of a metrics program

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Project Plan Overview15

Metrics Versus Numbers16

Good metrics are those that are SMART;

•Specific•Measurable•Attainable•Repeatable,• Time-dependent

Truly useful metrics indicate the degree to which security goals are being met – and they drive actions that need to be taken to improve our overall security goals.

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Exhibit A - This set of numbers can give us a sense of the overall health of anti-virus defenses and can show trends over time; but the information is not actionable in any way and will not serve as a meaningful diagnostic tool. SO WHAT??? = False sense of security without more knowledge

Metrics? Or Just Numbers?18

Exhibit B displays the same measurements as Exhibit A. By drilling down into the data we can begin to understand which locations are struggling with this activity. This in turn will help us choose where to focus in order to improve the performance of our organization. This kind of actionable intelligence is valuable and it can really drive performance improvement and provide information that is actionable to a productive end.

Example Metrics showing RELEVANCE

Good Metrics = Numbers with Relevance

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City A

City B

City C

99.4 %

94.7 %

89.8 %

Percentage of computers with current anti-virus definitions

75 % 80 % 85 % 90 % 95 % 100 %70 %65 %60 %55 %50 %

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CITY A

City B

City C

99.4 %

94.7 %

89.8 %

Percentage of computers with current anti-virus definitions

75 % 80 % 85 % 90 % 95 % 100 %70 %65 %60 %55 %50 %

Example Question: Why is one location so much farther behind in implementation? Possible Reasons: Understaffed

Limited Bandwidth More staff traveling that previous years

Possible Actions: Hire additional staff Share resources if the implementation MUST be done by xxx date Set different schedules for each location for future projects

Good Metrics = Actionable

Presenting and Interpreting Data Reports

_______% improved

_______% improved

from _______ and that means _________ .

What we need is ______ based on

requirements for __________ . Going

forward we should consider doing

___________ .

Visually Appealing Visually AppealingInterpreted and Actionable

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Measuring for value not numbers

Defining, refining and Interpreting data/results for the intended audienceExamples to work with

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Measurement of how well we are protecting our enterprise against the most basic information security threats.

Just Numbers: ________ %

What would an additional relevant value be that we can use to have SMART data?

Metrics: ________ % Increase since (prior month/inception/year over year/etc.) Device Type Location Length of time it took to detect

EXAMPLE Metric : Baseline Defenses Coverage (Antivirus, Antispyware, Firewall, etc)

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Legitimate e-mail traffic analysis is a family of metrics including incoming and outgoing traffic volume, incoming and outgoing traffic size, and traffic flow between our company and others.

By monitoring legitimate e-mail flow over time, we can learn where to set alarm points.

Numbers: Compare the amount of good and junk e-mail that we are receiving ____ percent good____ percent junk

What would an additional relevant value be that we can use to have SMART data?

Metrics____ percent good____ percent junk Quarterly/Annually/Since inception/Current MonthSince adding the _________ criteria Received from _________ types/organizationsSent During ____________ (AM/PM – Holidays , etc.)Junk Detected Quicker _______ (first time/second time)

EXAMPLE Metric : Legitimate E-Mail Traffic Analysis

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By presenting information in a sufficiently granular way we can inject business relevance into the exhibits. Producing a benchmark is also a powerful approach to performance improvement.

Conclusion

Frequently this level of visibility will spark a competitive fire in those being measured. Professional pride will drive most people to make sure they are found among the high performers on your report.

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City A

City B

City C

99.4 %

94.7 %

89.8 %

Percentage of computers with current anti-virus definitions

75 % 80 % 85 % 90 % 95 % 100 %70 %65 %60 %55 %50 %