The cybersecurity landscape has always been challenging as new technologies and methods are developed, resulting in organizations identifying the need to adapt and enhance their security measures. In fact, a news release of Infosecurity Magazine on April 28, 2023, highlighted that there has been a 7% increase in weekly cyber attacks worldwide during the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period last year. On average, each organization faces around 1248 attacks per week.
Undoubtedly, this fast-paced and unpredictable cybersecurity landscape has compelled cybersecurity teams to adopt a proactive approach and recognize the importance of regularly assessing their ability to safeguard data and information. A key strategy to address this challenge is by validating the effectiveness of their security controls.
However, another significant hurdle arises in determining the organization's overall performance based on the security results obtained. How can they be sure about their standing? Are they outperforming or falling behind industry peers? This is exactly why benchmarking becomes an essential practice.

What Is Benchmarking, and Why Is It Important?

Falling behind your peers can have serious negative impacts on your business. Without the ability to benchmark, you lack the knowledge of whether you are meeting industry standards and best practices, leaving your critical data and systems vulnerable to potential risks. This lack of comparative perspective makes it difficult to identify and address weaknesses, increasing the likelihood of severe breaches that can result in financial losses, damage to your company's reputation, and loss of customer trust.
Furthermore, explaining the effectiveness of your security setup to stakeholders can be difficult. Boards, CIOs, and CISOs are placing more and more emphasis on peer comparisons in cybersecurity, as mentioned in a publication titled Benchmarking Cybersecurity Value Delivery by Paul E. Proctor, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner. This growing trend reflects the desire to assess how your organization's security measures align with industry standards and best practices.
Benchmarking provides the means to fulfill this demand. It allows you to evaluate your security measures objectively by comparing them to those of other organizations in your industry. By benchmarking, you gain insights into where your security program stands in terms of maturity and effectiveness. Through benchmarking, you can make informed decisions, effectively allocate resources, and continually improve your security posture in response to emerging threats specifically targeted at your region and industry.

Discover the Picus Benchmarking Capability

Picus Security has recently introduced benchmarking capabilities that provide you with valuable insights into your security posture. Now, you have the opportunity to regularly compare your security scores with your peers in the industry, region, or among other Picus users.

Furthermore, you can now access information about the most simulated threats, threat templates, and popular ATT&CK tactics, specifically within your region, industry, and among Picus users. This allows for a better understanding of the prevalent threats and helps you to prioritize their security efforts accordingly.

Three Key Ways You Can Benefit From the Picus Benchmarking Feature:

Set Actionable Goals and ​​Prioritize Areas of Improvement:
By benchmarking your security programs, you can establish actionable goals for yourself. Instead of vague objectives centered around risk reduction, you have the opportunity to set specific targets to achieve within a defined timeframe.
Furthermore, as an organization, you understand the importance of continuous improvement. However, you may sometimes feel unsure about where to start. With the newly released benchmarking insights, you can identify areas where there is a gap between your current standards and those of your peers. This evaluation helps you identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas in need of improvement. It empowers you to prioritize your efforts and make well-informed decisions about enhancing your cybersecurity posture.

Harnessing Industry Intelligence:
Benchmarking helps you to take a proactive stance by focusing on your industry-specific needs. It empowers you to remain well-informed about the ever-evolving threat landscape and adapt your security strategies accordingly. With the benchmarking feature offered by Picus, you can access valuable industry intelligence such as the most common threats, threat templates, and popular MITRE ATT&CK tactics observed within your industry, region, and among your peers. By leveraging the experiences and patterns observed within your industry, region, and peers, you can enhance your cybersecurity posture and bolster your defenses against the most relevant and impactful threats that your organization may encounter.

Mitigate Your Security Gaps
If your organization's overall prevention score falls below the average for your region, industry, or overall, you can leverage the Picus Prevention Mitigation Library. This valuable resource provides thousands of mitigation recommendations, including vendor-specific prevention signatures and detection rules. It offers actionable guidance to enhance your security posture and effectively address any weaknesses identified through the benchmarking process. By utilizing these recommendations, you can bolster your defenses and strengthen your overall cybersecurity stance. Click here to learn more about how The Picus Platform is integrating with your technologies.

In conclusion

Building an effective cybersecurity program extends beyond a one-time setup — it requires continuous measurement and monitoring. By embracing the practice of measurement and benchmarking, you can proactively fortify your cybersecurity defenses and keep up with the ever-evolving threat landscape.
Take advantage of the valuable insights and actionable recommendations provided by our Picus Benchmarking feature to strengthen your security posture.
To learn more about how you can take advantage of this feature, contact one of our Picus experts: moc.hcetokab%40sucip