The article discusses the prevalent use of vanity metrics in security teams—metrics that may look impressive but often do not correlate with actual performance or business needs. This reliance arises because accessible and understandable metrics are lacking. As security becomes more data-driven and integral to business operations, the field must transition to more meaningful measures. An example is given from Coinbase, where the presence of a data scientist transformed their approach to measuring fraud and security, highlighting the importance of advanced metrics that reflect true impact.
The metrics we often call vanity metrics aren’t just for show; they often reflect teams' limited scope for measurement in the evolving data-driven security landscape.
At Coinbase, having a data scientist helped us approach our fraud problems with greater rigor, influencing how we measured security performance.
Security must evolve from relying on vanity metrics to adopting a data-centric approach that accurately reflects performance and business impact in the modern context.
Effective leadership in security now demands a shift towards understanding and utilizing sophisticated metrics that can tell a meaningful story about our impact.
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