Mandiant and Verizon Reveal Alarming Security Metrics: Mean Time to Exploit and Remediation Gaps
Track your mean time to exploit and median time to remediate to benchmark against industry averages and identify security gaps.
Measure your own mean time to exploit and median time to remediate to identify gaps and prioritize security improvements.
Summary
Security teams are facing a paradox of increased visibility yet persistent uncertainty about the durability of their fixes. Mandiant's M‑Trends 2026 report reports a mean time to exploit of a negative seven days, indicating that attackers can compromise systems faster than they are discovered. Verizon's 2025 DBIR shows a median time to remediate edge‑device vulnerabilities of 32 days, highlighting a lag in patching. These metrics suggest that exploitation often outpaces remediation across the industry.
The findings underscore the need for continuous monitoring and rapid response capabilities. Organizations must validate that fixes remain effective over time, rather than assuming a patch is sufficient. The data also points to a growing vulnerability in edge devices, which are increasingly targeted by attackers. Security teams should benchmark their own metrics against these industry averages to identify gaps.
Key changes
- Mandiant M‑Trends 2026 shows mean time to exploit negative seven days
- Verizon 2025 DBIR reports median time to remediate edge‑device vulnerabilities 32 days
- Exploitation often occurs faster than remediation
- Highlights need for continuous monitoring
- Indicates persistent uncertainty about fix durability
- Edge devices remain a significant vulnerability