This bookdefines more than 900 metrics measuring compliance with current legislation, resiliency of security controls, and return on investment. It explains what needs to be measured, why and how to measure it, and how to tie security and privacy metrics to business goals and objectives. The metrics are scaled by information sensitivity, asset criticality, and risk; aligned to correspond with different lateral and hierarchical functions; designed with flexible measurement boundaries; and can be implemented individually or in combination. The text includes numerous examples and sample reports and stresses a complete assessment by evaluating physical, personnel, IT, and operational security controls.

The Definitive Guide to Quantifying, Classifying, and Measuring Enterprise IT Security Operations Security Metrics is the first comprehensive best-practice guide to defining, creating, and utilizing security metrics in the enterprise. Using sample charts, graphics, case studies, and war stories, Yankee Group Security Expert Andrew Jaquith demonstrates exactly how to establish effective metrics based on your organization’s unique requirements. You’ll discover how to quantify hard-to-measure security activities, compile and analyze all relevant data, identify strengths and weaknesses, set cost-effective priorities for improvement, and craft compelling messages for senior management. Security Metrics successfully bridges management’s quantitative viewpoint with the nuts-and-bolts approach typically taken by security professionals. It brings together expert solutions drawn from Jaquith’s extensive consulting work in the software, aerospace, and financial services industries, including new metrics presented nowhere else. You’ll learn how to: • Replace nonstop crisis response with a systematic approach to security improvement • Understand the differences between “good” and “bad” metrics • Measure coverage and control, vulnerability management, password quality, patch latency, benchmark scoring, and business-adjusted risk • Quantify the effectiveness of security acquisition, implementation, and other program activities • Organize, aggregate, and analyze your data to bring out key insights • Use visualization to understand and communicate security issues more clearly • Capture valuable data from firewalls and antivirus logs, third-party auditor reports, and other resources • Implement balanced scorecards that present compact, holistic views of organizational security effectiveness

Spectacular security failures continue to dominate the headlines despite huge increases in security budgets and ever-more draconian regulations. The 20/20 hindsight of audits is no longer an effective solution to security weaknesses, and the necessity for real-time strategic metrics has never been more critical. Information Security Management Metrics: A Definitive Guide to Effective Security Monitoring and Measurement offers a radical new approach for developing and implementing security metrics essential for supporting business activities and managing information risk. This work provides anyone with security and risk management responsibilities insight into these critical security questions: How secure is my organization? How much security is enough? What are the most cost-effective security solutions? How secure is my organization? You can’t manage what you can’t measure This volume shows readers how to develop metrics that can be used across an organization to assure its information systems are functioning, secure, and supportive of the organization’s business objectives. It provides a comprehensive overview of security metrics, discusses the current state of metrics in use today, and looks at promising new developments. Later chapters explore ways to develop effective strategic and management metrics for information security governance, risk management, program implementation and management, and incident management and response. The book ensures that every facet of security required by an organization is linked to business objectives, and provides metrics to measure it. Case studies effectively demonstrate specific ways that metrics can be implemented across an enterprise to maximize business benefit. With three decades of enterprise information security experience, author Krag Brotby presents a workable approach to developing and managing cost-effective enterprise information security.

Other books on information security metrics discuss number theory and statistics in academic terms. Light on mathematics and heavy on utility, PRAGMATIC Security Metrics: Applying Metametrics to Information Security breaks the mold. This is the ultimate how-to-do-it guide for security metrics.Packed with time-saving tips, the book offers easy-to-fo

Security Smarts for the Self-Guided IT Professional “An extraordinarily thorough and sophisticated explanation of why you need to measure the effectiveness of your security program and how to do it. A must-have for any quality security program!”—Dave Cullinane, CISSP, CISO & VP, Global Fraud, Risk & Security, eBay Learn how to communicate the value of an information security program, enable investment planning and decision making, and drive necessary change to improve the security of your organization. Security Metrics: A Beginner's Guide explains, step by step, how to develop and implement a successful security metrics program. This practical resource covers project management, communication, analytics tools, identifying targets, defining objectives, obtaining stakeholder buy-in, metrics automation, data quality, and resourcing. You'll also get details on cloud-based security metrics and process improvement. Templates, checklists, and examples give you the hands-on help you need to get started right away. Security Metrics: A Beginner's Guide features: Lingo--Common security terms defined so that you're in the know on the job IMHO--Frank and relevant opinions based on the author's years of industry experience Budget Note--Tips for getting security technologies and processes into your organization's budget In Actual Practice--Exceptions to the rules of security explained in real-world contexts Your Plan--Customizable checklists you can use on the job now Into Action--Tips on how, why, and when to apply new skills and techniques at work Caroline Wong, CISSP, was formerly the Chief of Staff for the Global Information Security Team at eBay, where she built the security metrics program from the ground up. She has been a featured speaker at RSA, ITWeb Summit, Metricon, the Executive Women's Forum, ISC2, and the Information Security Forum.

Learn how to integrate IT service metrics into your business and maximize their usage and effectiveness.