Overview
The Root Cause Dashboard includes Trend Analysis for your key metrics:
Cost of Breach (CoB)
Maturity
Likelihood
Exposure
This widget shows how each metric changes over time, not just its current value. The article explains how the Trend Analysis Widget works and how to read it.
Why Tracking Metrics Over Time Is Essential
A single value only tells you where you are right now. It doesn’t answer:
Are we improving or regressing?
When did things start to change?
Which actions had the biggest effect on our risk?
Are we moving toward acceptable risk levels?
The Trend Analysis Widget turns each metric into a KPI you can track over months, quarters, and years, so you can:
See trends, not just snapshots.
Identify which initiatives or events led to improvements or regressions.
Align risk with business cycles (monthly ops, quarterly reviews, yearly board updates).
Interpreting the Trend Line
The Trend Analysis Widget maps your selected metric over time, providing the historical context necessary to move beyond simple "point-in-time" snapshots. By analyzing the trajectory of the trend line, you can immediately assess three critical factors:
Direction: Quickly determine if your security posture is improving or declining over your selected timeframe.
Speed: Identify whether shifts in your metrics are gradual or represent abrupt changes that require immediate investigation.
Magnitude: Gauge the scale of your progress—or regression—to understand if shifts are minor fluctuations or significant movements.
Data Point Details (Hover / Tap)
Hovering over (or tapping) a data point displays:
The exact metric value at that point in time.
A comparison to the previous period (Month, Quarter, or Year).
This allows you to instantly correlate specific values with their associated reporting periods for more accurate analysis.
Benchmarking
Benchmarking within the Trend Analysis widget provides a dual perspective on your performance, allowing for both internal and external evaluation:
Industry Reference (External)
When available, a reference line is displayed based on data from organizations in the same industry. This allows you to see if your trajectory aligns with, exceeds, or falls below relevant market benchmarks.
Historical Comparison (Internal):
Even without industry data, you can always evaluate your current standing against your own past performance. By comparing the current data point to a prior period (Month, Quarter, or Year), you can precisely quantify the extent of your internal progress.
In short, the dashboard enables you to measure success globally against the industry and locally against your own organizational timeline.