Presenting Cybersecurity Metrics to the Board? Say This, Not That.

Securing budget for cybersecurity shouldn’t feel like an uphill battle—but too often, it does.

Executives don’t lose sleep over patching backlogs or endpoint security gaps. They care about business risk, compliance, and financial impact. Your challenge is framing the cybersecurity program in a way that aligns with leadership’s goals, all while tying back to core cybersecurity goals.

The right cybersecurity metrics position cybersecurity as a business enabler. A metrics-driven cybersecurity program ensures that security risks become business risks, security wins become business wins, and security investments translate into bottom-line impact.

Here’s how to present cybersecurity metrics in a way that secures leadership buy-in.

The Questions Leadership Actually Cares About

When security professionals present metrics to the board or C-suite, discussions often get bogged down in technical jargon or overwhelming data points. But executives aren’t looking for the security fine print—they want a clear, strategic picture of how cybersecurity affects the business.

To keep the conversation focused, your discussions with leadership should revolve around three main questions:

How are we securing against cyber threats?

Use metrics like:

• % of security incidents contained within SLA

• Time to detect and remediate critical threats

• $ saved from blocked attacks

Is our cyber protection consistent with or stronger than companies in our industry, particularly with respect to compliance?

Use metrics like:

• Compliance pass rates (e.g., SOC 2, ISO 27001, NIST adherence)

• % of business units meeting security policy requirements

• Vulnerabilities identified vs. vulnerabilities patched

Are we operating in a way that will limit financial and reputational impact (in case of breaches)?

Use metrics like:

• $ potential financial loss from security incidents

• % of critical assets covered by security controls

• Reduction in downtime due to security incidents

Tip: Cybersecurity Metrics for Dummies takes a deeper dive into thoughtfully defining cybersecurity metrics.

Getting the Buy-In: How to Speak Leadership’s Language

Even with the right metrics, your message won’t land if it’s buried in technical jargon. You need to frame cybersecurity metrics in a way that makes sense to non-technical decision-makers. Leadership needs a high-level, insulated view to make decisions that impact the business.

Think of it like a CFO reporting to the board. They don’t walk through every line item of tax strategy—they summarize the financial implications so the board can make the right calls. As cybersecurity becomes a board-level conversation, you're expected to do the same: distill complexity, present the bottom line, and operate strategically.

Get Started (Fast): Read Cybersecurity Metrics for Dummies

Tracking metrics that resonate with leadership requires iteration, experience, and business savvy—and those take time to build. Cybersecurity Metrics for Dummies accelerates that learning curve.

It’s an easy, actionable read that helps you kickstart your cybersecurity metrics journey and build a foundation that drives real business impact.

You’ll learn how to:

• Understand your total attack surface and uncover security gaps

• Identify outcome-driven metrics that will be meaningful to your board

• Take action on your cybersecurity metrics findings to keep your business safe