Are You Measuring the Right Cyber Risks… Or Just the Easy Ones?

Are you measuring the right risks in your third party risk management program—or just the easiest ones? In this episode, we break down how most teams approach third party risk management metrics and why those metrics often fail to reflect real business risk. If you’ve ever wondered whether your TPRM strategy is actually driving better decisions or just producing reports, this conversation will challenge how you think about risk measurement.

Hosts Jeffrey Wheatman, Bob Maley, and Ferhat Dikbiyik unpack the gap between what organizations track and what actually matters—from misleading metrics and “top vendor” lists to the struggle of communicating risk to executives who don’t see the value. You’ll learn how to rethink your approach to third party cyber risk management, move beyond surface-level reporting, and focus on the signals that truly impact your business.

In this episode, you’ll learn:
- Why most third party risk metrics are based on convenience, not impact
- The difference between measuring activity vs. measuring real risk
- How to make risk meaningful to boards and executive stakeholders
- What “good” risk metrics actually look like in practice
- How to avoid false confidence from incomplete or misleading data

Don’t risk building your strategy on the wrong signals. Learn how to measure what actually matters—and make better decisions because of it.
0:00 - Intro / Teaser
0:37 - Welcome & Episode Intro
1:32 - What Are the Right Risks to Measure?
2:13 - Defining Risk: Math vs. Abstraction
7:02 - Risk vs. Event: Is Ransomware a Risk?
15:32 - How Do We Measure & Communicate Risk?
21:57 - The Tire Swing Analogy (Jack Jones)
22:12 - Measuring & Reporting: What Boards Need
27:02 - The Worst Metric in TPRM: Vendor Grades
23:17 - Sponsor: Black Kite
23:28 - Research Round: WEF Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2026
27:43 - Agree or Disagree
31:12 - Next Episode Preview & Outro

Видео Are You Measuring the Right Cyber Risks… Or Just the Easy Ones? канала Third Party Podcast