More Than a Number: Your Cyber Risk Index Explained

In an increasingly complex cyber threat landscape, organizations need more than static assessments—they require continuous, quantifiable visibility into their cyber risk. This technical report introduces and explains Trend Micro’s Cyber Risk Exposure Management (CREM) and its core output: the Cyber Risk Index.

The Cyber Risk Index provides a dynamic and real-time measurement of organizational cyber risk by continuously evaluating the likelihood of a breach and its potential impact across assets, systems, and users. Powered by Trend Vision One™, the CREM platform integrates telemetry from vulnerabilities, exposures, misconfigurations, and threat intelligence to calculate asset-level risk scores and an overall organizational index. These scores are derived from a weighted analysis of over 2,300 risk events, structured across three key categories: attack activity, exposure conditions, and security configuration. Each risk score reflects the geometric mean of likelihood and impact, with the latter determined by the CIA triad (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability) and asset criticality. Beyond technical assessment, the report underscores the strategic value of using the Cyber Risk Index as a cybersecurity KPI. It enables operational prioritization, proactive governance, and benchmarking against industry peers, while supporting zero-trust initiatives through continuous risk evaluation.

The document concludes with practical insights into how organizations can use this index to guide decisions, enhance resilience, and operationalize cybersecurity as a business enabler.