Breakout Times Are Faster Than Ever

Cybercriminals are moving at speeds that most organizations are not equipped to handle. Last year, the average breakout time—the time it takes for an attacker to move laterally within a compromised network—dropped to 48 minutes. In the fastest observed case, it took just 51 seconds. That means by the time a security alert is triggered, the attacker could have already escalated privileges, exfiltrated data, and established persistence.

This is no longer a hypothetical risk. The traditional approach to cybersecurity, where teams react to alerts and investigate over hours or days, is no longer viable. If you are not detecting and responding in real time, you are losing.

Most organizations still operate with security workflows designed for a different era. They rely on alerts that generate too much noise, manual investigations that take too long, and response playbooks that assume there is time to analyze an incident before taking action. The data shows that assumption is flawed. By the time most companies confirm a breach, attackers have already spread across their network, making containment exponentially harder.

The companies that survive the next wave of cyber threats will be the ones that prioritize speed. A one-minute response plan is no longer an aggressive target; it is the minimum requirement. That means automating detection and response, ensuring security teams have real-time visibility, and eliminating bottlenecks that slow down decision-making. Security tools need to act as force multipliers, not obstacles. AI-driven detection, automated containment, and pre-approved response actions should be standard operating procedures. If an attacker moves in under a minute, your security stack should be moving in milliseconds.

Cyber resilience is about assuming compromise and engineering an environment where threats are neutralized before they escalate. This requires a shift from static defenses to dynamic, real-time decision-making. Teams need to be trained to react instantly, and response playbooks need to be built around automation. Security leaders should be asking one simple question: if an attacker breaches your environment right now, how quickly can you contain them?

For companies that still rely on outdated security models, the answer is probably too slow. The clock is already ticking.