Trust Has a Measurement Problem

In “Why HITRUST, Why Now,” HITRUST’s new Chief Trust Officer Myrna Soto makes the argument every executive team should hear: trust is larger than cybersecurity and pureplay assurance. It is a business mandate.

Boards expect transparency. Customers expect accountability. Regulators expect evidence. Executives are racing into AI, automation, cloud, and digital transformation. They need speed, but also confidence that information risk is understood, quantified and governed. Anything less means there’s no trust, which is the bedrock of cybersecurity.

That is the tension of the digital economy: move faster, while proving you can be trusted at scale.

Third-party risk is where that tension becomes real.

Enterprises depend on vendors, cloud providers, processors, subcontractors, and service organizations to run critical operations and handle sensitive information. Much of the organization’s risk now sits outside its direct control. And that exposure is not simply cyber. It can include operational disruption, privacy impact, regulatory exposure, contractual loss, reputational harm, financial loss, and resilience risk.

Most organizations have responded by collecting questionnaires, certifications, audit reports, control evidence, contract terms, insurance, and exception approvals.

All that matters. But it often fails to answer the question leaders need answered: what residual risk and exposure remains, and is it acceptable for this relationship?

That is the missing measure.

The problem is not a lack of evidence. Many teams have more evidence than they can efficiently use. The problem is fragmented evidence. A certification, questionnaire, cyber score, contract clause, audit report, and insurance certificate each tell part of the story. But they differ in rigor, scope, independence, timing, relevance, and confidence.

Without a common decision model, interpretation becomes subjective. One reviewer may emphasize a certification. Another may focus on cyber signals. A business owner may push for speed. Legal may take comfort in contracts. Insurance may create confidence, even when operational exposure remains.

This is where Myrna’s trust thesis and The Missing Measure connect. If trust must be demonstrated and operationalized, third-party risk cannot depend on inconsistent interpretation. Organizations need a way to normalize evidence, weight assurance, measure residual and retained exposure, and translate that insight into decisions leaders can defend.

This is not about reducing trust to a simplistic score. A number without methodology is just another artifact. The value comes from the discipline behind the measure: common risk language, evidence normalization, assurance weighting, residual-risk methodology, decision thresholds, portfolio visibility, and governance strong enough to support reliance.

That discipline changes the conversation. It moves third-party risk from “Did we collect the evidence?” to “What does the evidence mean?” And then to “What decision should follow?”

The shift matters because third-party decisions rarely stay isolated. One exception may be manageable when exposure is understood and mitigation is credible. Many similar exceptions across vendors, business units, data types, technologies, or geographies can create material concentration risk. Without common measurement, those patterns stay hidden until they become governance problems.

Contracts and insurance may shift financial exposure; they do not eliminate operational risk, information risk, ownership, tolerance decisions, or the need to monitor change.

That is why the missing measure is not just a better TPRM metric. It is part of the broader trust conversation.

HITRUST has long helped organizations create reliable assurance around cybersecurity and risk management practices. Myrna’s post points to the next chapter: shaping how trust is measured, operationalized, and sustained across the digital economy. The Missing Measure gives that chapter a practical use case.

Third-party risk teams do not need more disconnected artifacts. They need to understand what those artifacts mean, how much confidence they deserve, what exposure remains, and what decision should follow.

Trust has become too important to leave to interpretation. Organizations must show not only that they collected evidence, but that they can measure it, compare it, govern it, and act on it.

That is the missing measure.

And that is why HITRUST, why now.

Streamlining TPRM by Promoting Supply Chain Trust & Transparency

Guest blog by HITRUST Integration Partner Crowe LLP

Problem Statement: Third-party assessments can take months to complete, requiring labor and time intensive manual reviews. These timelines are often unacceptable to business relationship owners. When third-party risk management (TPRM) timelines compound upon additional procurement processes, business owners may be unable to react quickly to business opportunities, experience a loss of revenue, or be unable to meet new customer or compliance requirements in a timely manner.

Changing the narrative.

Break away from the notion that HITRUST is only for the healthcare community. Industry-agnostic, consistent controls allow insight into the operational maturity of each specific control category. Because SOC 2 reports are tailored to each organization’s system, scope, and control language, they can be mapped to standardized control sets, but not with the same consistency or comparability across vendors that a more prescriptive framework like HITRUST provides. HITRUST provides the granular control details, which TPRM teams can map to internal controls, as well as customer and regulatory requirements. With coverage over a majority of industry standard security and privacy controls, TPRM teams can focus on asking engagement-specific, pointed due diligence questions resulting in thoughtful risk reduction.

Promoting Trust. 

It’s in the name; HITRUST aims to promote supply chain trust and transparency. One way it enables customers to do so is via their free Results Distribution System and HITRUST TPRM Services (via ServiceNow) solutions. These tools allow you to exchange HITRUST reports with your supply chain, removing the need for manual vendor or customer outreach. Your HITRUST report is available to your customers as it becomes available, and the results of your third parties are ingested in real time for your review. Coverage. HITRUST offers three certifications, e1 (Essentials 1-year certification consisting of 43 cyber hygiene controls), i1 (Implemented 1-year certification consisting of 182 controls), and r2 (200+ risk-based controls) for organizations of all sizes and maturity. As shown in the table below, the r2 provides an average of 99% coverage over industry baselines for Security and Privacy controls. The i1 provides 73% and 27% coverage over industry baseline Security and Privacy controls, respectively. The e1, with the lowest percentage of overlap, serves as a basic cybersecurity “Essentials” certification for small businesses or startups which may not be aligned with another information security framework.

Analysis provided by HITRUST

Time Savings. 

Many organizations that elect to accept HITRUST r2 reports that meet acceptable maturity levels can supplement TPRM due diligence entirely. Third-party assessments where HITRUST reports are provided by the third party are completed 33% faster (<40 days vs. 60 days) when considering average timelines for vendor questionnaires and follow-up question turnaround for Crowe clients in regulated industries. Assessor time per review is reduced by ~50% when HITRUST reports are provided.

Projecting ROI. 

Based on Crowe analysis, assessments involving third parties that provided a HITRUST r2 or i1 report demonstrated potential cost savings of up to 45% compared to vendors with no certification or attestation report, and up to 33% compared to vendors providing a SOC 2 report. Unlike HITRUST, SOC 2 reports can vary significantly in control implementation and testing approach depending on the organization and audit firm, often requiring more detailed, case-by-case review by TPRM assessors. HITRUST’s standardized control framework and consistent level of testing depth enable more efficient mapping to internal TPRM questionnaires and a more streamlined assessment process. Promoting HITRUST throughout your supply chain could result in immediate efficiencies and cost savings for your program.

Future State.

Leveraging these efficiencies, your TPRM program can promote business buy-in to TPRM processes by shortening the onboarding process. Additionally, this allows you to spend less time dealing with administrative tasks, and more time validating inherent risk, tracking findings, and fine-tuning continuous monitoring procedures or other steps of the third-party lifecycle. For organizations struggling with vendor assessment volume, program development, and lack of TPRM expertise, Crowe LLP can step in to support, enabling you to get the most out of your HITRUST-focused program. Crowe's team of global cybersecurity experts provide support for companies addressing new issues and challenges.

Why HITRUST, Why Now

Myrna Soto, Chief Trust Officer, HITRUST

Over the course of my career, I have had the privilege of serving in executive leadership roles across some of the world’s most complex and highly regulated organizations, while also spending more than a decade serving in governance, advisory, and board leadership roles across public and private companies. Those experiences have reinforced a belief I have carried throughout my professional journey: trust is ultimately the foundation of every successful business relationship.

• Trust between companies and their customers.

• Trust between boards and management teams.

• Trust between technology innovation and responsible risk management.

Today, that foundation is being tested in entirely new ways.

Organizations are navigating an environment where cyber threats continue to evolve, AI adoption is accelerating rapidly, regulatory scrutiny is increasing, and digital ecosystems are becoming more interconnected than ever before. In this environment, security alone is no longer enough.

Companies must be able to demonstrate trust. They must show resilience. They must provide transparency and accountability at scale. And they must create confidence among customers, partners, boards, regulators, and other stakeholders.

For more than a decade, I have spent significant time in boardrooms, advisory roles, and governance discussions focused on helping organizations navigate increasingly complex technology, cybersecurity, and risk landscapes.

That perspective has strengthened my belief that one of the greatest challenges facing organizations today is not simply managing cyber risk—it is establishing and maintaining trust.

• Trust has become the currency that underpins digital business.

• Boards are demanding greater transparency.

• Customers expect stronger accountability.

• Regulators are increasing scrutiny.

• And executives are balancing innovation, AI adoption, operational resilience, and growth—all at once.

Increasingly, cybersecurity is no longer viewed solely as a technical issue. It is a governance issue. A business resilience issue. And, perhaps most importantly, a trust issue.

As organizations adopt AI-enabled operations, autonomous agents, machine-driven decision-making, and increasingly interconnected third-party ecosystems, the opportunities are extraordinary. Yet these advancements also demand a more mature approach to assurance, accountability, and risk oversight.

In the middle of this transformation sits a critical question:

How do organizations create measurable confidence in a world that is becoming more interconnected, automated, and risk-intensive by the day?

That question is one of the primary reasons I chose to join HITRUST as Chief Trust Officer.

This decision was not about returning to a traditional operating role. Rather, it represents a continuation of the work I have been most passionate about in recent years—helping organizations navigate complex risk environments, strengthen stakeholder trust, and align cybersecurity, governance, and assurance strategies with broader business objectives.

The opportunity to do so at HITRUST, at such an important moment for our industry, was particularly compelling.

HITRUST occupies a unique position in the market. For years, the organization has helped enterprises create greater consistency, assurance, and confidence in how cybersecurity and risk management practices are assessed and validated. As digital ecosystems continue to expand and organizations become increasingly dependent on interconnected partners, suppliers, platforms, and technologies, the importance of scalable trust models will only continue to grow.

Resilience and trust are increasingly inseparable. Organizations earn stakeholder confidence not simply by preventing adverse events, but by demonstrating the ability to anticipate risk, adapt to change, and recover from disruption. One of the reasons HITRUST’s model is so valuable is that it helps organizations move beyond point-in-time compliance activities toward more mature, measurable, and repeatable approaches to risk management and assurance. The result is not only stronger security outcomes, but greater operational resilience and confidence across the enterprise.

What makes this moment particularly exciting is that HITRUST is entering an important new chapter in its evolution.

The organization has earned significant trust and credibility through years of leadership in healthcare and other highly regulated environments. The framework, assurance model, and ecosystem built under the vision of its founder established a strong foundation for organizations seeking greater confidence in their cybersecurity and risk management programs.

Today, however, the opportunity is even larger.

Organizations across virtually every industry are confronting many of the same challenges: accelerating digital transformation, increasing regulatory expectations, expanding third-party risk, rapid AI adoption, and growing demands for demonstrable trust and resilience. The need for consistent, scalable assurance is no longer confined to any single sector.

As with any enduring organization, new leadership creates an opportunity to honor the foundation that has been built while reimagining what is possible for the future.

Under new leadership and a clear strategic vision, HITRUST is building upon its legacy while expanding its reach and relevance across industries. This is not a departure from what made the organization successful; it is an evolution of that success. The principles that established HITRUST as a trusted leader remain firmly intact, while the company’s focus, capabilities, market presence, and industry impact continue to broaden to meet the needs of a rapidly changing world.

I believe the next chapter for HITRUST will be defined not only by the trust it helps organizations validate, but by the role it plays in shaping how trust is measured, operationalized, and sustained across the global digital economy.

I believe we are entering a new phase in the evolution of cybersecurity and governance.

The rise of AI-enabled operations, autonomous systems, machine-driven decision-making, and increasingly sophisticated threat environments is fundamentally changing how organizations must think about resilience, accountability, and trust. Security can no longer operate as a siloed technical function. It must become deeply integrated into business strategy, enterprise governance, operational execution, and stakeholder confidence.

The organizations that will lead in this next era will not simply be those that innovate the fastest. They will be the ones that can innovate responsibly, govern effectively, and demonstrate to stakeholders that trust is embedded in the way they operate.

That is where I believe HITRUST has an important role to play—and where I believe I can add value.

My focus as Chief Trust Officer will center on engaging with executive leaders, boards of directors, customers, regulators, and industry stakeholders around the future of trust, cyber resilience, governance, and assurance. I look forward to helping organizations think more strategically about how they build, measure, and sustain trust while continuing to enable innovation and growth.

Equally important, I remain deeply committed to my governance and advisory work. Today’s most effective leaders increasingly operate across multiple dimensions—governance, strategic advisory, operational leadership, ecosystem influence, and industry collaboration. I view these experiences as highly complementary and believe the ability to bridge strategy, governance, technology, and risk across multiple environments has become increasingly important in today’s leadership landscape.

Throughout my career, I have been motivated by opportunities to help organizations navigate moments of meaningful transformation. The convergence of cybersecurity, AI, trust, and governance represents one of the most important leadership conversations of our time.

I am excited to work alongside the HITRUST team as we help shape that future. Most importantly, I am excited to contribute to advancing the broader industry dialogue around trust—because trust is no longer simply a security objective.

It is a core business imperative, a measure of organizational resilience, and an increasingly defining competitive advantage.

Myrna Soto