For years, cybersecurity has been one of the most significant—and least quantifiable—investments across government and industry. Leaders authorize billions in collective cyber budgets. Yet when asked, “Is it working?” the answers often rely on outdated reports, presentations, and anecdotal confidence, backed by sprawling spreadsheets filled with manual tracking.
This dynamic is changing. Today’s announcement from GSA ‘s Pete Waterman at Alliance for Digital Innovation that FedRAMP is moving toward the adoption of Key Security Indicators (KSIs) is the latest and most public signal that the status quo is no longer sustainable. FedRAMP’s shift reflects a recognition across the industry: periodic, compliance-driven cycles are not cost effective and simply are not built for today’s dynamic and agile systems and threats.
Instead, continuous performance measurement is becoming the new standard, a model TDI (Tetrad Digital Integrity) began advocating years ago that represents a step change in how cybersecurity is managed and measured.
TDI recognized that organizations needed a better way to assess the effectiveness of their cybersecurity investments, not just check compliance boxes. In 2017 that realization led to the development of Cybersecurity Performance Management (CPM) as a distinct discipline.
CPM enables leaders to monitor cyber effectiveness continuously, efficiently, and with the same business rigor applied to finance or operations. It turns cybersecurity from a reactive, audit-heavy exercise into a dynamic, real-time oversight model.
Recognized by Gartner®, CPM provides the visibility executives need to answer the most critical question: Is our cybersecurity program actually working? It clarifies whether cyber investments are delivering measurable risk reduction, improving compliance, and enhancing operational resilience—all while eliminating redundant efforts and wasted resources.
FedRAMP’s move toward KSIs validates this direction. It signals a broader shift toward performance-driven cybersecurity, where continuous measurement, not manual reporting, becomes the foundation for managing risk and staying ahead of adversaries.
The Metrics Behind Performance: Managing cybersecurity performance requires meaningful, purpose-built metrics. TDI developed Cybersecurity Performance Indicators (CPIs) to provide just that—quantifiable measures that capture security effectiveness, compliance posture, and operational maturity across the entire program, all tied to strategic organizational goals.
Unlike traditional checklists or narrowly focused KPIs, CPIs span the breadth of a security program—across people, processes, and technologies, in both on-premises and cloud environments. They deliver continuous, automated insights that equip decision-makers with a holistic view of cybersecurity performance, while also providing engineers and operators with the clarity needed to drive daily improvements.
The result is a unified performance picture, bridging strategic oversight and operational execution, while eliminating the inefficiencies of manual reporting and fragmented assessments.
Operationalizing Performance with CnSight®: This approach is fully realized in CnSight, a platform purpose-built to operationalize CPM at scale by automating the continuous monitoring and analysis of CPIs.
CPM and CnSight enhance existing frameworks (e.g.: RMF, ISO 27001, NIST CSF, CMMC, CIS, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) CPGs) to provide organizations with a unified, performance-centric view of their hybrid environments, giving both executives and engineers the actionable insights needed to manage risk, improve maturity, and drive efficiency.
The platform transforms cybersecurity operations by:
- Providing leadership with actionable, real-time analytics—without burdening systems or workflows
- Eliminating manual data calls and inefficient reporting cycles
- Freeing cybersecurity teams to focus on mission-critical defense rather than administrative tasks
- Streamlining compliance efforts across RMF, CMMC, FedRAMP, and other frameworks
CPM vs. CNAPPs, GRC Tools, and SIEM: Closing the Strategic Gap: It’s important to distinguish Cybersecurity Performance Management (CPM) from other cybersecurity categories. CNAPPs focus narrowly on cloud infrastructure security, while GRC tools often reinforce inefficiency, driving document-heavy processes designed to satisfy auditors rather than optimize performance. SIEMs excel at collecting and correlating security events but generate overwhelming volumes of data without measuring the actual performance or effectiveness of security controls.
CPM fills the strategic gap that these tools leave open. Purpose-built to improve efficiency and visibility, CPM—delivered through platforms like CnSight, provides continuous, automated oversight of cybersecurity performance across hybrid environments. It reduces labor-intensive tasks, prevents duplication of effort, and gives decision-makers clear, actionable insight, without triggering costly assessment cycles or compliance fire drills.
Unlike tools that generate activity for activity’s sake, CPM drives efficiency, clarity, and accountability. It complements SIEM and CNAPP data flows by evaluating not just what happened, but how well the security program is performing against its objectives.
Critically, CPM also supports Zero Trust, aligning with federal mandates and DoD strategy, by monitoring the performance and health of the controls that enforce ZT principles and ensuring they are not just deployed but operating effectively.
The result is a cyber program that is measurable, efficient, and aligned with mission objectives, built to sustain both compliance and resilience in the face of evolving threats.
Cybersecurity’s Future: Measurable, Efficient, Mission-Aligned: Recent moves like FedRAMP’s stated use of Key Security Indicators (KSIs) and the Department of the Navy Chief Information Officer (DON CIO) Cyber Ready initiative under ISV 2.0 are clear signals: cybersecurity must evolve beyond static compliance. Leaders and taxpayers demand efficiency, visibility, and results, while civil servants and warfighters deserve systems that are not just compliant, but truly capable and resilient.
Performance-driven cybersecurity is no longer aspirational; it is essential. By embracing continuous measurement and management, organizations can ensure their cybersecurity programs are not just surviving audits, but truly ready to defend missions, protect data, and outpace adversaries in an increasingly contested digital battlespace.
TDI is proud to have pioneered this path. CPM, CPIs, and CnSight were designed from the start to answer the call for efficient and effective cybersecurity, streamlining operations, reducing waste, and turning cybersecurity from a compliance exercise into a performance-driven mission enabler.