Introduction

Organisations must move beyond reactive security postures and embrace data-driven decision-making as the sophistication and prevalence of threat actors continues to increase. For start-ups, especially those scaling rapidly or navigating compliance requirements, understanding and tracking the right cybersecurity metrics is crucial.

Security metrics provide clarity: they help prioritise risks, optimise resource allocation, satisfy auditors, and demonstrate trustworthiness to investors and customers alike. But with dozens of potential indicators available, which metrics actually matter?

This article outlines the key security metrics every modern organisation should be tracking—particularly start-ups—and why they serve as the foundation of a resilient cybersecurity programme.

Preparedness: Are You Ready for a Breach?

Your level of preparedness is your frontline defence against cyber incidents. This metric encompasses both technical and procedural readiness.

Start-ups should ask:

• How many devices are missing critical security patches?
• How many high-risk vulnerabilities are currently unresolved?
• When was your last disaster recovery, incident response or business continuity test?

Preparedness also includes non-technical elements such as staff training and policy enforcement. Frequent security awareness sessions, up-to-date policies, and enforced data retention schedules all strengthen your baseline posture.

Monitoring preparedness metrics ensures you’re not only reacting to threats, but actively building resistance into your infrastructure and culture.

Mean Time to Detect (MTTD) and Resolve (MTTR): The Clock is Ticking

Detection and resolution times are two of the most actionable metrics in security operations. Together, they help quantify your ability to recognise and respond to threats.

• Mean Time to Detect (MTTD) measures how long it takes from the moment a threat occurs to when your team becomes aware of it.
• Mean Time to Resolve (MTTR) tracks how long it takes to contain, remediate, and recover from that threat.

Why this matters: The longer a threat remains undetected, the more damage it can cause. A reduced MTTD and MTTR means your organisation is nimble, prepared, and less likely to suffer sustained damage.

For start-ups, these metrics are also critical in attracting enterprise customers or meeting the expectations of regulatory frameworks. They offer a quantifiable way to demonstrate operational maturity—even with a lean team.

Asset Visibility and Unauthorised Devices

You can’t protect what you don’t know exists. Having an up-to-date inventory of all authorised devices—including laptops, servers, mobile devices, and IoT hardware—is foundational.

Track metrics like:

• Total number of assets on the network
• Percentage of assets with sensitive data
• Number of unauthorised or rogue devices detected

Start-ups often struggle here due to rapid onboarding and less mature asset management processes. But failing to identify and monitor all devices—especially in a BYOD or hybrid work environment—can leave security teams blind to breaches.

Implementing network access controls, device lifecycle tracking, and monitoring policies can help reduce these risks significantly.

Incident Tracking: Lessons from the Battlefield

Security incidents will happen—it’s how you handle and learn from them that matters.

Critical metrics to monitor include:

• Number of incidents per quarter
• Types of attacks (phishing, DDoS, malware, etc.)
• Root causes and recurrence rates
• Average downtime and associated cost per incident

A good incident response programme should not only prioritise quick recovery but also include mechanisms for root cause analysis and continuous improvement. For example, if you find that the majority of incidents originate from misconfigured access permissions, that becomes a measurable improvement opportunity.

Documenting and tracking incident metrics over time helps identify trends, allocate budget more effectively, and refine staff training.

Vendor Security and Third-party Risk

Modern organisations, especially cloud-native start-ups, are heavily reliant on third-party vendors—ranging from payment processors and SaaS tools to outsourced developers. Each vendor represents a potential attack vector.

Key metrics include:

• Number of vendors assessed for security
• Percentage of high-risk vendors
• Vendor patching cadence and compliance
• Mean time for vendor incident response

UpGuard’s checklist highlights that vendor-related breaches are increasing, and start-ups must incorporate third-party risk into their cybersecurity strategy. Regular risk assessments, clear contractual obligations, and continuous monitoring are essential—not just best practice.

Start-ups should also monitor fourth-party risks (the vendors your vendors use) and maintain security standards in vendor contracts. Poor vendor hygiene can directly affect your compliance standing.

Patch Management Effectiveness

Outdated systems and unpatched vulnerabilities remain among the most exploited attack surfaces. This is especially true in fast-paced environments where systems are spun up quickly and not always maintained.

Track patch management using:

• Time from patch release to deployment (especially for critical vulnerabilities)
• Percentage of systems running end-of-life (EOL) software
• Number of exceptions or non-compliant systems

Measuring patching cadence ensures your environment remains hardened. Automating patch deployment and integrating it into your CI/CD pipeline can improve both compliance and operational efficiency.

Access Management and Privileged Controls

Managing who can access what—and ensuring those permissions are appropriate—is a top priority. Poor access control often leads to data breaches or insider threats.

Metrics to track:

• Percentage of accounts with Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) enabled
• Number of orphaned (unused) accounts
• Frequency of access reviews and revocations
• Number of privileged accounts and how they’re monitored

Start-ups, in particular, should watch for role creep—where permissions grow informally over time—as employees wear multiple hats. Applying the principle of least privilege and using identity governance tools can help.

Regulatory Compliance and Audit Readiness

Start-ups looking to raise capital, attract enterprise customers, or expand internationally must prove regulatory alignment. Security metrics support that narrative.

Essential indicators:

• Percentage of controls compliant with relevant frameworks (e.g. ISO 27001, GDPR, SOC 2)
• Number of outstanding audit findings or remediation tasks
• Frequency of internal assessments and policy reviews

Tracking these helps demonstrate to stakeholders—especially investors and regulators—that security is not being handled ad hoc but is embedded into company operations.

Conclusion

Security isn’t just about firewalls and antivirus software—it’s about measurable outcomes. The metrics discussed above—from MTTD and asset visibility to third-party risk and access control—offer a clear window into your organisation’s cybersecurity health.

For start-ups, adopting these metrics early can:

• Reduce exposure to preventable breaches
• Build customer and investor confidence
• Streamline compliance readiness
• Enable security to scale alongside the business

By focusing on metrics that truly matter, security leaders can ensure their teams are spending time on the most impactful work—and transforming security from a cost centre into a strategic asset.

You can read the full and detailed document here.