How to measure cybersecurity maturity in your organization?

Many organizations still struggle to measure their cybersecurity maturity because, despite growing investments in technology, a clear and structured vision is lacking.

In many cases, efforts are focused only on the adoption of tools or incident response, without a continuous methodology to assess processes, behaviors, and risks in an integrated way.

In addition, the pressure for quick results, the complexity of the current digital environment, and the lack of objective indicators make the challenge even greater, leaving gaps that can compromise the company's defensive capacity and reaction.

As such, without a clear vision of where they are and where they need to go, many organizations operate in the dark, reactive, and vulnerable to increasingly complex attacks.

Therefore, measuring maturity is not just a technical exercise, but a strategic component to ensure resilience, sustainability, and competitive advantage in a scenario where security is a fundamental part of trust.

Why measure cybersecurity maturity?

Measuring cybersecurity maturity is critical because it allows the organization to move from acting reactively to making evidence-based strategic decisions.

Thus, instead of responding only to an incident, the organization begins to understand its gaps and strengths, building smarter and more efficient security.

This ensures that the right resources are applied in the places needed, avoiding dispersed investments and increasing the return on protection initiatives.

In addition, data-driven decisions provide clarity for senior leadership and allow security to be treated as a corporate priority, and not just as a responsibility of the technical team.

In this way, with well-defined indicators and metrics, it is possible to demonstrate evolution, justify investments, and strengthen the security culture throughout the organization, connecting the topic directly to the business strategy.

After all, institutions that do not measure their maturity risk facing penalties, reputational damage, and financial losses.

Organizations that continuously monitor and evolve their level of security, on the other hand, demonstrate commitment and responsibility, strengthening their posture before customers, partners, and regulatory bodies.

In a competitive landscape, where digital attacks can paralyze operations, security-mature companies stand out as reliable, solid partners prepared to protect critical information.

With this, the ability to show results, constant evolution, and preparedness in the face of digital threats becomes a strategic differential, strengthening business continuity, customer trust, and the organization's credibility.

Consequences and risks of lack of visibility into cybersecurity maturity

When an organization lacks visibility into the cybersecurity maturity of its employees, it cannot clearly understand their weaknesses, priorities, and levels of threat exposure.

This lack of clarity causes important decisions to be based on insights rather than data, creating a false sense of security.

The result is a more vulnerable environment where gaps can go unnoticed, increasing the chances of incidents, operational disruptions, and loss of sensitive data.

In addition, the absence of structured measurement compromises the organization's ability to respond effectively to audits, regulatory requirements, and customer and partner demands.

Therefore, companies that do not demonstrate control and maturity in security lose credibility and competitiveness, and may face financial, legal, and reputational impacts.

Pillars of cybersecurity maturity

Security maturity is based on three fundamental pillars. The first is technological controls, which ensure that the company has efficient tools and mechanisms for protecting, detecting, and responding to threats.

This includes firewalls, monitoring systems, multi-factor authentication, vulnerability management, and endpoint protection solutions.

However, technology alone does not guarantee security, it needs to be integrated, updated, and aligned with the real needs of the business to effectively generate value and reduce risks.

The second pillar involves processes and governance, responsible for structuring policies, responsibilities and practices that ensure consistency and continuity in protection.

This includes internal regulations, risk management, incident response plans, and ongoing monitoring. But no process can be sustained without the third pillar.

Which is culture and human empowerment. Trained, aware and engaged people are essential to recognize threats, act responsibly and strengthen security on a daily basis.

How to assess cybersecurity maturity?

Assessing cybersecurity maturity goes far beyond identifying implemented tools or conducting specific training, it is about understanding, with concrete data, how prepared the organization is to

• Prevent;

• Detect;

• Respond to digital threats.

This structured analysis allows you to see real risks, measure evolution over time, and strategically direct investments, connecting technology, processes, and human behavior.

Self-assessment

The cybersecurity maturity assessment starts with a clear analysis of the current scenario, based on frameworks such as.

This process helps map existing controls, processes, and security posture, identifying critical strengths and gaps.

Therefore, with this vision, organizations are able to have an orientation following a more strategic management of security, focusing on real risks and business priorities.

From this analysis, it is important to perform a benchmark comparing the results with previous periods. Metrics such as adherence to critical controls, level of automation, average incident response time, and vulnerability rate.

They contribute to an objective view and the more data, the more accurate the understanding of the evolution and the level of preparedness.

Metrics

To measure maturity, it is essential to monitor the efficiency of security controls and operations on an ongoing basis.

In this way, metrics such as the rate of reported incidents, response to simulated threats, identified vulnerabilities, and mitigation over time help to visualize technical and operational capacity.

These indicators show whether the organization is able to detect risks, act quickly, and maintain up-to-date controls.

With this information, organizations are able to have an overview that demonstrates not only technical capacity, but also the degree of discipline and operational consistency, which are fundamental to prove maturity.

Human Indicators

Cybersecurity maturity is only real when there is human engagement. Therefore, evaluating behavior and corporate culture is indispensable.

Thus, metrics such as:

·        Participation rate in training;

·        Results of phishing simulations;

·        Incident reporting rate;

·        Risk behaviors.

Provide clear visibility into the team's level of awareness and preparedness. These indicators show whether people understand their role in security and whether they are able to identify and prevent threats.

It is also important to analyze the evolution of training and internal communication policies, as well as the ability of teams to react to real or simulated incidents.

That's because mature organizations prioritize continuous learning, campaigns based on behavioral data, and initiatives that encourage threat reporting.

How to turn diagnosis into progress?

Turning the cybersecurity maturity diagnosis into real progress requires structured and strategic planning.

After identifying gaps, vulnerabilities, and opportunities for improvement, it is necessary to build an evolution roadmap, which organizes actions into clear steps, defined deadlines, and designated responsible persons.

This roadmap should contemplate all dimensions of maturity, technology, processes, and human behavior, ensuring that each initiative contributes to reducing risks and strengthening the organization's resilience.

Prioritizing actions by risk and impact is another key step. Not all gaps have the same criticality, and directing efforts only in a linear way can waste resources and time. 

Therefore, assessing the probability of incidents occurring, the potential impact on operations and reputation, and the cost of mitigation allows you to make smarter strategic decisions.

Thus, the organization focuses first on what represents the greatest threat, ensuring effective protection and faster return on security investments.

Finally, it is essential to see maturity as an ongoing process, and not as a one-off assessment. Digital security is dynamic, and threats are constantly evolving, requiring periodic reviews.

PhishX and its role in assessing cybersecurity maturity

PhishX offers end-to-end solutions that go beyond technology, helping organizations measure and evolve cybersecurity maturity strategically and continuously.

Through simulated campaigns, training, and digital behavior monitoring, our platform enables managers to identify gaps in knowledge and awareness, turning data into actionable insights.

In this way, it is possible to direct specific actions to reduce human risks and strengthen the safety culture throughout the company.

 PhishX Analytics leverages this insight by consolidating data into a flexible and accessible platform, allowing you to track KPIs such as participation rate, training engagement, phishing simulation results, and reporting.

With intuitive dashboards and one-click information export, teams can analyze individual and collective evolution, identify patterns of risk behavior, and prioritize initiatives strategically.

Thus, PhishX not only measures people's maturity, but also transforms this data into practical actions that increase the resilience and protection of the organization.

Get in touch with our experts and find out how our solutions can help your team continuously evolve, reducing risk and increasing digital resilience.

Measuring cybersecurity maturity is essential.