The 10 Enterprise Cybersecurity Metrics Security Leaders Need in 2026

1. Infrastructure Configuration Test Failures

What it measures: The number of infrastructure configuration test failures detected across your environment.

Domain: Infrastructure configuration

Metric Type: Informational

Year-on-year growth: High

Why it matters: Misconfigurations are known to have caused (or worsened) over a quarter (28%) of security incidents in enterprise environments in 2025. This metric provides foundational visibility into how well your infrastructure aligns with security standards or internal configuration policies. For CISOs, tracking configuration test failures enables proactive identification of security gaps before they become exploitable vulnerabilities, shifting your posture from reactive incident response to preventive risk management.

How to use for security decision-making: A high number of configuration failures is not necessarily negative and may indicate improved detection coverage. Track this metric over time to establish your baseline and then focus on the trend. Consistent reductions in failures indicate maturing security hygiene, while sudden spikes may signal infrastructure changes, new deployments, or emerging misconfigurations requiring attention.

How to start tracking manually:

• Integrate configuration assessment tools that scan infrastructure against established benchmarks (CIS, NIST, or custom internal standards).
• Aggregate results to understand total failure counts alongside severity categorization.
• Establish regular scanning cadences - at least weekly - for critical systems.

2. Devices with Infrastructure Configuration Test Failures

What it measures: The number of devices with infrastructure configuration test failures.

Domain: Infrastructure configuration

Metric Type: Informational

Year-on-year growth: High

Why it matters: While tracking total configuration failures tells you the scale of the problem, tracking affected devices tells you the scope of exposure. A small number of devices with many failures indicates concentrated risk; many devices with few failures suggests systemic configuration gaps. This distinction can directly inform remediation prioritization and resource allocation.

How to use for security decision-making: Use this metric alongside total configuration failures to calculate average failures per device. High device counts with configuration failures may indicate deployment issues, shadow IT, or gaps in your configuration management program. Segment by device type, business unit, or criticality to identify patterns requiring targeted remediation.

How to start tracking manually:

• Map configuration test results to individual device identifiers in your asset inventory.
• Ensure your configuration management database (CMDB) or asset management platform can correlate failures to specific endpoints.
• Track unique device counts separately from total failure counts to maintain clarity on scope versus scale.

3. Vulnerability Detections with Device Coverage Information

What it measures: The number of vulnerability detections on devices, including device tool coverage information.

Domain: Vulnerability management

Metric Type: Compound risk

Year-on-year growth: New metric

Why it matters: Traditional vulnerability metrics often lack context about detection coverage - you may have low vulnerability counts simply because you're not scanning enough assets. This compound metric combines vulnerability detection data with device coverage information, providing a more accurate picture of your actual exposure.

How to use for security decision-making: This is a compound risk metric, meaning it combines multiple data points from across cyber control domains into a single view. High vulnerability counts with low coverage suggest you may be underestimating total exposure. Aim to increase coverage first, accepting that detected vulnerabilities will rise as visibility improves - this is a sign of maturity, not weakness.

How to start tracking manually: 

• Correlate vulnerability scan results with your asset inventory to determine coverage percentage.
• Track both metrics together - total vulnerability detections and percentage of devices scanned.
• Consider segmenting by asset criticality to ensure your most important systems have the highest coverage.

4. Devices with Out of SLA Detections

What it measures: The percentage of devices with detections that have out-of-SLA vulnerability detections.

Domain: Vulnerability management

Metric Type: Policy

Year-on-year growth: Very high

Why it matters: Detecting vulnerabilities is only valuable if you remediate them in time. This policy metric directly tracks your organisation's ability to execute on security commitments. For leaders, it helps translate operational performance into business risk - devices with overdue vulnerabilities represent known, unaddressed exposure.

How to use for security decision-making: Target 0% out-of-SLA devices as your ideal state, while recognizing that complex environments may have exceptions. Rising percentages indicate remediation bottlenecks, resource constraints, or misaligned priorities between security and operations teams.

How to start tracking manually: 

• Define clear SLA thresholds by vulnerability severity in your vulnerability management policy.
• Configure your scanning and ticketing systems to track time-to-remediation against these thresholds.
• Report on the percentage of devices exceeding SLA, not just total overdue vulnerabilities, providing a clearer picture of operational impact.

5. Top Ten Unique Vulnerabilities with the Most Detections

What it measures: The top ten unique vulnerabilities with the highest detection counts across your environment.

Domain: Vulnerability management

Metric Type: Diagnostic

Year-on-year growth: High

Why it matters: Not all vulnerabilities can demand your equal attention. This diagnostic metric identifies which specific vulnerabilities are most prevalent in your environment, enabling risk-based prioritization that aligns remediation efforts with actual exposure. For CISOs, this metric supports resource optimization - addressing a single vulnerability present on thousands of devices often delivers greater risk reduction than addressing dozens of vulnerabilities on individual systems.

How to use for security decision-making: The top ten list reveals the highest-frequency vulnerabilities, representing systemic issues that likely require enterprise-wide patching campaigns or configuration changes, rather than individual device remediation.

How to start tracking manually:

• Configure your vulnerability management platform to rank vulnerabilities by detection count.
• Review the top ten list weekly or bi-weekly, focusing on changes in ranking and new entries.

6. Top Ten Devices with the Most Vulnerability Detections

What it measures: The ten devices with the highest vulnerability detection counts.

Domain: Vulnerability management

Metric type: Diagnostic

Year-on-year growth: High

Why it matters: High-vulnerability devices represent concentrated risk that may indicate end-of-life systems, shadow IT, or assets that have fallen outside normal patching processes. This diagnostic metric identifies your most vulnerable assets - the devices that attackers would find most attractive as initial access points or pivot targets.

How to use for security decision-making: Investigate the root cause for each high-vulnerability device and consider whether these devices require enhanced controls, network segmentation, or retirement. Persistent presence on this list indicates systemic issues requiring escalation beyond routine patching.

How to start tracking manually: 

• Generate device-level vulnerability reports ranked by total detection count.
• Cross-reference with asset criticality and business context to prioritize investigation.
• Establish a review cadence (weekly or bi-weekly) to ensure high-risk devices receive appropriate attention and remediation tracking.

7. Outstanding Patches Out of SLA

What it measures: The percentage of outstanding patches that have exceeded defined SLA thresholds.

Domain: Patch management

Metric type: Policy

Year-on-year growth: Medium

Why it matters: This metric directly measures your organization's ability to close known security gaps within acceptable timeframes. It quantifies your patching discipline and highlights where operational constraints are creating security risk. For CISOs reporting to boards, SLA compliance provides a clear, measurable indicator of security program effectiveness.

How to use for security decision-making: Track SLA compliance by severity tier to identify where remediation is breaking down. Low compliance on critical patches indicates urgent process issues; low compliance on lower-severity patches may reflect appropriate risk-based reprioritization. Compare SLA performance across business units to identify operational patterns and resource allocation needs.

How to start tracking manually: 

• Document patch SLA targets by severity in your vulnerability management or patch management policy.
• Integrate patch deployment data with tracking systems that calculate time from patch availability to deployment completion.
• Report on percentage of patches meeting SLA, segmented by severity and business unit.

8. Accounts in Scope for Complete Information

What it measures: The number of accounts in scope for complete identity and access information.

Domain: Identity & Access Management

Metric type: Informational

Year-on-year growth: High

Why it matters: You cannot protect what you cannot see. This metric tracks your visibility. In an era where identity is the new perimeter, comprehensive identity visibility is foundational to zero trust implementation, privileged access management, and compliance with regulations requiring access governance.

How to use for security decision-making: The growth in popularity of this metric reflects enterprise recognition that identity visibility gaps create significant security risk. A high count of accounts with complete information indicates mature identity governance. Target 100% coverage for privileged accounts as an initial milestone.

How to start tracking manually: 

• Inventory all identity sources: active Directory, cloud identity providers, application-specific directories, and service accounts.
• Define what "complete information" means for your organization – although typically this includes owner, access rights, last authentication, lifecycle status.
• Track the percentage of total accounts meeting your criteria.

9. AV Update Out of SLA

What it measures: The percentage of devices with antivirus updates that have exceeded defined SLA thresholds.

Domain: Endpoint protection

Metric type: Policy

Year-on-year growth: Medium

Why it matters: Devices with outdated antivirus represent blind spots in your endpoint protection. This policy metric tracks your organization's ability to maintain consistent endpoint protection across the estate, directly measuring a fundamental security control's operational health.

How to use for security-decision making: Industry benchmarks target near-100% AV updates across managed endpoints. Devices out of SLA may indicate connectivity issues, deployment failures, or unmanaged endpoints. Segment by device type and location to identify patterns.

How to start tracking manually: 

• Define AV update SLA thresholds (typically 24-72 hours for signature updates).
• Integrate endpoint protection console data with your security monitoring platform to track update status.
• Report on percentage of devices exceeding SLA, with drill-down capability to identify specific affected systems.

10. EDR Version Out of SLA

What it measures: The percentage of devices with EDR agent versions that have exceeded defined SLA thresholds.

Domain: Endpoint Protection

Metric Type: Policy

Year-on-year growth: Medium

Why it matters: Outdated EDR agents may lack protection against newly identified attack techniques or contain vulnerabilities themselves. This metric ensures your most advanced endpoint protection remains operational across the enterprise and is becoming increasingly critical as attackers start targeting security tooling itself.

How to use for security decision-making: EDR version compliance should track alongside vendor release cycles. Persistent non-compliance may indicate deployment issues, incompatibilities with specific system configurations, or unmanaged endpoints requiring investigation.

How to start tracking manually: 

• Establish version SLA thresholds aligned with your EDR vendor's release cadence and security advisories.
• Monitor agent version distribution across endpoints, flagging devices running versions older than your defined threshold.
• Integrate with your endpoint management platform to enable remediation tracking.

Explore the top 250 cybersecurity metrics

The full Panaseer Metric Catalog provides:

• Extended metric library covering additional domains including cloud security, third-party risk, and security awareness
• Dashboard template examples for executive reporting and board communication
• Core use cases for combining multiple metrics for comprehensive security posture visibility

Read the complete Panaseer Metric Catalogue.

This report was developed using enterprise cybersecurity metric adoption data within the Panaseer platform in 2025.