“It takes years to build trust, but only minutes for a breach to break it.”
Cybersecurity is no longer only a technical concern. It is a leadership imperative that has a direct impact on trust, reputation, and business survival. Even if your company has never experienced a breach, attackers are continually probing your systems, seeking weaknesses. The real challenge is not whether a breach will occur, but how quickly your organization can detect and contain it when it does. To understand this race against adversaries, senior leaders must grasp three critical measures of cyber readiness: Breakout Time, Mean Time to Detect (MTTD), and Mean Time to Respond (MTTR). These metrics may sound technical, but collectively, they determine whether an attack remains a minor incident or escalates into a major crisis.
Breakout Time – The Attacker’s Window of Opportunity
Breakout time measures the time it takes an attacker to move from their initial point of entry to the rest of your network. Once inside, attackers begin lateral movement, searching for privileged accounts, sensitive data, and critical systems. For the most advanced adversaries, a breakout can happen in under 10 minutes. Industry averages suggest it often takes only 1–2 hours. This means that by the time you are alerted to unusual activity, attackers may already have access to your crown jewels. The breakout clock defines how long you truly have to act before control slips away.
MTTD – How Fast You Notice
Mean Time to Detect (MTTD) is the average time it takes your organization to recognize that a breach has occurred. In some companies, this can still stretch into days or even weeks. A slow detection window means attackers can operate freely, quietly embedding themselves deeper into your systems. For senior leadership, the important point is simple: the longer the MTTD, the higher the risk and cost of recovery. If your teams cannot spot unusual behavior quickly, your security is already at a disadvantage.
MTTR – How Fast You Act
Mean Time to Respond (MTTR) measures the time it takes your teams to contain or neutralize a threat once it has been detected. Even after discovery, delays in response can result in prolonged disruptions, financial losses, and reputational damage.
A long MTTR signals weak processes, a lack of automation, or under-resourced teams. For executives, the question is not whether the team tries to respond, but whether they can do so fast enough to stay ahead of the attacker’s breakout clock.
The Equation That Matters
The relationship between these three metrics can be summed up in one equation:
MTTD + MTTR must be less than Breakout Time.
If the combined time it takes to detect and respond is longer than the attacker’s breakout, the adversary wins. This equation reframes cybersecurity in simple business terms. It is not about endless technical reports, but about speed and timing.
Questions Senior Leaders Should Be Asking
Even if your company has not yet suffered a breach, leadership cannot afford to wait. The boardroom discussion should shift from “Are we secure?” to “Can we act faster than attackers?” To that end, here are the five questions every CEO and board member should ask their CISO:
- What is the average breakout time for attackers targeting our industry, and how do we compare?
- What are our current MTTD and MTTR numbers, and are they short enough to beat adversaries?
- Do we have automation and response capabilities that operate in minutes rather than hours or days?
- When was the last time we tested our detection and response through a live simulation or red team drill?
- How are we holding third-party partners and suppliers accountable for their detection and response times?
A Call to Action
The absence of a breach does not mean the absence of risk. It may simply mean you have been fortunate. True resilience comes from readiness, and readiness is measured in time. Attackers will continue to evolve, and organizations must ensure their defenses evolve even faster. For senior leadership, the message is clear: cybersecurity is not about technical detail, it is about speed and trust. If you do not ask the right questions now, you may not have the luxury to ask them later.
