In a nutshell: Organizations should validate their security controls through practical testing rather than relying on process execution.
Many CISOs trust their cybersecurity controls without testing their real protective effect. They primarily measure process execution, not the ability to actually stop attackers.
Modern security programs are operationally very active: assets are scanned, vulnerabilities prioritized, patches applied, dashboards updated. These activities have long been viewed in many organizations as indicators of a high level of security.
However, a fundamental problem is emerging: many organizations do not measure their ability to defend against a real attacker, but merely whether their work processes were completed. The distinction is crucial: a scanned vulnerability management program says nothing about practical defensive capability if identified vulnerabilities in critical systems are not prioritized or patched.
For CISOs, this means they should review their trust assumptions. Controls that have not been validated – for example through red team tests, penetration tests, or simulations of realistic attacker scenarios – may provide a false sense of security. An active security program without documented effectiveness measurement is more akin to a compliance checklist than a functioning defensive mechanism.
Source: www.security-insider.de · Published 23 July 2026
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