NIST SP 800-61

From MTTD and MTTR to Real Value: How to Organize SOC Metrics Effectively

Anatoly Antipov, head of L1 analysts at a small in-house SOC, explains why traditional time-based metrics like MTTD and MTTR often lead to superficial incident handling and analyst burnout. Drawing on NIST SP 800-61 and the latest SANS SOC Survey, the article shows how speed-focused KPIs encourage analysts to game the system rather than improve security. The team replaced vague verdicts with a five-level matrix including TP.Ext, TP.Int, BP, FP, and FP.SOC to separate real incidents, benign activity, and internal detection debt. Weekly reports were restructured around three blocks covering overall volume, verdict distribution, and confirmed violations with actual effort metrics. Regular quality audits of closed alerts now check verdict accuracy, documentation completeness, and whether FP.SOC items trigger rule improvements. The approach helps small SOC teams focus on genuine risk reduction instead of dashboard optics.