The Plateau: A CISO’s Zero Trust Dilemma
I met with a CISO last month who was stuck halfway up the Zero Trust mountain. Their team had invested in microsegmentation, MFA was everywhere, and cloud entitlements were tightened to the bone. Yet, adoption was stalling. Phishing clicks still happened. Developers were bypassing controls to “get things done.” And the board wanted proof their multi-million-dollar program was working.
This is the Zero Trust Plateau. Many organizations hit it. Deploying technologies is only the first leg of the journey. Sustaining Zero Trust requires cultural change, ongoing measurement, and the ability to course-correct quickly. Otherwise, you end up with a static architecture instead of a dynamic security posture.
This is where the Zero Trust Scorecard comes in.
Why Metrics Change the Game
Zero Trust isn’t a product. It’s a philosophy—and like any philosophy, its success depends on how people internalize and practice it over time. The challenge is that most organizations treat Zero Trust as a deployment project, not a continuous process.
Here’s what usually happens:
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Post-deployment neglect – Once tools are live, metrics vanish. Nobody tracks if users adopt new patterns or if controls are working as intended.
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Cultural resistance – Teams find workarounds. Admins disable controls in dev environments. Business units complain that “security is slowing us down.”
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Invisible drift – Cloud configurations mutate. Entitlements creep back in. Suddenly, your Zero Trust posture isn’t so zero anymore.
This isn’t about buying more dashboards. It’s about designing a feedback loop that measures technical effectiveness, cultural adoption, and compliance drift—so you can see where to tune and improve. That’s the promise of the Scorecard.
The Zero Trust Scorecard Framework
A good Zero Trust Scorecard balances three domains:
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Cultural KPIs
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Technical KPIs
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Compliance KPIs
Let’s break them down.
🧠 Cultural KPIs: Measuring Adoption and Resistance
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Stakeholder Adoption Rates
Track how quickly and completely different business units adopt Zero Trust practices. For example:-
% of developers using secure APIs instead of legacy connections.
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% of employees logging in via SSO/MFA.
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Training Completion & Engagement
Zero Trust requires a mindset shift. Measure:-
Security training completion rates (mandatory and voluntary).
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Behavioral change: number of reported phishing emails per user.
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Phishing Resistance
Run regular phishing simulations. Watch for:-
% of users clicking on simulated phishing emails.
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Time to report suspicious messages.
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Culture is the leading indicator. If people aren’t on board, your tech KPIs won’t matter for long.
⚙️ Technical KPIs: Verifying Your Architecture Works
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Authentication Success Rates
Monitor login success/failure patterns:-
Are MFA denials increasing because of misconfiguration?
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Are users attempting legacy protocols (e.g., NTLM, basic auth)?
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Lateral Movement Detection
Test whether microsegmentation and identity controls block lateral movement:-
% of simulated attacker movement attempts blocked.
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Number of policy violations detected in network flows.
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Device Posture Compliance
Check device health before granting access:-
% of devices meeting patching and configuration baselines.
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Remediation times for out-of-compliance devices.
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These KPIs help answer: “Are our controls operating as designed?”
📜 Compliance KPIs: Staying Aligned and Audit-Ready
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Audit Pass Rates
Track the % of internal and external audits passed without exceptions. -
Cloud Posture Drift
Use tools like CSPM (Cloud Security Posture Management) to measure:-
Number of critical misconfigurations over time.
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Mean time to remediate drift.
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Policy Exception Requests
Monitor requests for policy exceptions. A high rate could signal usability issues or cultural resistance.
Compliance metrics keep regulators and leadership confident that Zero Trust isn’t just a slogan.
Building Your Zero Trust Scorecard
So how do you actually build and operationalize this?
🎯 1. Define Goals and Data Sources
Start with clear objectives for each domain:
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Cultural: “Reduce phishing click rate by 50% in 6 months.”
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Technical: “Block 90% of lateral movement attempts in purple team exercises.”
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Compliance: “Achieve zero critical cloud misconfigurations within 90 days.”
Identify data sources: SIEM, identity providers (Okta, Azure AD), endpoint managers (Intune, JAMF), and security awareness platforms.
📊 2. Set Up Dashboards with Examples
Create dashboards that are consumable by non-technical audiences:
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For executives: High-level trends—“Are we moving in the right direction?”
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For security teams: Granular data—failed authentications, policy violations, device compliance.
Example Dashboard Widgets:
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% of devices compliant with Zero Trust posture.
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Phishing click rates by department.
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Audit exceptions over time.
Visuals matter. Use red/yellow/green indicators to show where attention is needed.
📅 3. Establish Cadence and Communication
A Scorecard is useless if nobody sees it. Embed it into your organizational rhythm:
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Weekly: Security team reviews technical KPIs.
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Monthly: Present Scorecard to business unit leads.
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Quarterly: Share executive summary with the board.
Use these touchpoints to celebrate wins, address resistance, and prioritize remediation.
Why It Works
Zero Trust isn’t static. Threats evolve, and so do people. The Scorecard gives you a living view of your Zero Trust program—cultural, technical, and compliance health in one place.
It keeps you from becoming the CISO stuck halfway up the mountain.
Because in Zero Trust, there’s no summit. Only the climb.
Questions and Getting Help
Want to discuss ways to progress and overcome the plateau? Need help with planning, building, managing, or monitoring Zero Trust environments?
Just reach out to MicroSolved for a no-hassle, no-pressure discussion of your needs and our capabilities.
Phone: +1.614.351.1237 or Email: info@microsolved.com
* AI tools were used as a research assistant for this content, but human moderation and writing are also included. The included images are AI-generated.