Lean cybersecurity is a systematic approach to eliminating waste and streamlining security operations to produce maximum value for stakeholders. The concept of lean cybersecurity is inspired by lean manufacturing, an industrial optimisation approach aiming to use fewer resources and efficient processes to meet customer demands.

Lean cybersecurity provides a critical operational advantage for security teams navigating the dual pressures of evolving threats and increasing scrutiny over costs and value output. By adopting efficiency holistically, attention can be focused on activities that have the most impact on stakeholders, thereby reducing wasted effort. With lean cybersecurity, operations become more inspectable and measurable. Teams have the diagnostic tools needed to systematically align priorities with business objectives, without compromising on security goals or budget discipline.

Jira is a project management tool that helps teams track, organise and prioritize work. In security operations (SecOps), Jira can manage incidents, and vulnerabilities and coordinate security tasks with clarity and accountability. Its flexibility, integration capabilities and automation features make it ideal for tracking security issues from detection to resolution. Many security teams are drawn to Jira because it’s easy to adopt and can be scaled quickly across teams while supporting compliance through audit-grade tracking.

Parsing and transcribing penetration test (pentest) report findings into a ticketing system is a tedious, manual task. On average, it takes about 5 minutes to copy and paste a single finding - including text, formatting, and images - into Jira or a similar platform.

Suppose a report contains just five findings, this already adds up to around 30 minutes of manual work. Bump up to 10 findings, a reasonable average, and you’re looking at over an hour spent on tedious copy-paste tasks. Now, consider this: if you’re paying a security engineer a total compensation of around USD 170K, and your company runs at least four pentests a year, you’re burning through roughly USD 325 annually on manual report handling alone. That may not sound like a high amount, but it’s likely a very conservative estimate.

Implementing and maintaining an Information Security Management System (ISMS) is a significant investment that is regularly underestimated by organizations. The average cost of obtaining and maintaining an ISMS can range from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on the size and complexity of the organization. Industry reports consistently highlight that a substantial portion of this cost is attributed to personnel, consulting fees, and audit expenses. With these costs in mind, small and medium-sized firms naturally explore open-source alternatives, seeking a more budget-friendly approach to achieving ISO 27001 compliance.