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<\/a><\/a>\nUnpatched systems, weak identity and access management, siloed monitoring and alerting, and gaps in governance and oversight are just some examples of security debt that can inflict massive operational, financial, reputational, and strategic damage for organizations. In a complimentary new white paper, Security Debt: The Unseen Risk Undermining Cyber Resilience<\/i><\/a>, ISACA examines the types, key drivers, lifecycle, and impacts of security debt, as well as insights into identifying, measuring, and quantifying security debt, including through its new Security Debt Index (SDI).<\/p> \nMeant to be used in addition to existing risk ratings, this SDI model provides organizations with a composite score to track whether their overall debt posture is improving or worsening, offering directional indicators that can help support decision making. When used consistently, it can reveal patterns and help organizations compare debt trends across systems, teams, or time periods, and prioritize remediation where risk is both material and accelerating. SDI considers three dimensions, each of which are scored on a normalized scale:<\/p> \nThe paper also explores the ways that organizations can manage and reduce security debt, including through the use of a risk register, and by incorporating security into DevOps and adopting a zero trust mindset. It also outlines the best practices for knowing which risk to act on, delay, or share, including:<\/p> \nAdditionally, the resource walks through how to explain security debt to leadership, how compliance and regulatory frameworks factor in, and how security debt has evolved along with technology.<\/p> \n\u201cAs technology evolves, so does the nature of security debt. The future will require organizations to pair AI and automation with robust governance, meet rising regulatory expectations, and ensure risk and performance reporting reaches senior leadership,\u201d says Safia Kazi, ISACA principal research analyst - privacy. \u201cThe organizations that succeed will be those that recognize, measure, and act on security debt early, with intentionality and transparency.\u201d<\/p> \nThe free white paper can be viewed at https:\/\/www.isaca.org\/resources\/white-papers\/2026\/security-debt-the-unseen-risk-undermining-cyber-resilience<\/a>.<\/p> \nISACA offers additional resources related to risk at www.isaca.org\/resources\/it-risk<\/a>, and recently launched its Advanced in AI Risk (AAIR)<\/a> certification. Additional ISACA security resources are available at www.isaca.org\/resources\/cybersecurity<\/a>.<\/p> \nAbout ISACA<\/b><\/p>\n
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