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The methodology

How Index8 scores security readiness.

Index8 maps your answers, readiness controls, policies, evidence, and training progress into a clear score your team can act on.

Seven steps

From a single question to a security readiness score.

The same logic runs in both the quick check and the full assessment. Same thresholds, same vocabulary, same boundaries.

  1. Answer guided questions

    Eighteen guided readiness questions covering people, systems, policies, and response. Built for the people who manage the work.

  2. Map answers to readiness controls

    Each answer connects to a specific control from the Readiness Standard library. Four pillars, ten categories, twenty-six controls.

  3. Identify gaps

    The score is not the goal. The goal is naming the gaps so they become next actions, not anxiety.

  4. Connect supporting evidence

    Files in the vault link to controls. The score reflects what is documented, not what is intended.

  5. Track freshness and status

    Every control has a freshness window. Evidence that ages out moves from current to stale, and the score follows.

  6. Summarize security readiness

    Four pillar scores roll up to one overall number. Ranges: 85+ ready, 65–84 action, 40–64 mid, under 40 risk.

  7. Use the score as a working tool

    Brief leadership, prepare for renewals, onboard new advisors, and track quarterly progress against the same shared number.

Three orthogonal signals

Why one yes is not the same as another.

A score that treats every yes the same overstates what is actually in place. Index8 separates three signals so the score reflects reality.

Existence

What you say is in place: missing, declared, not sure, not applicable.

Support

What the workspace can show: documentation gap, documented, evidenced, current, stale.

Confidence

How strongly we believe the answer: low, medium, high.

Start here

See the methodology in action.

Create your account or run the security readiness check. Either way, watch each answer turn into a control, a gap, and a next action.

Read the Readiness Standard