The increasing risk of cyber-attacks coupled with compliance obligations has meant that even small and medium sized organizations are scouting for executive leadership to support them in the critical field of cybersecurity.

Given the general unavailability of experienced and skilled cybersecurity staff coupled with the compounded problem of sourcing technically aware and security focused executives, organizations are increasingly looking at leveraging a Virtual Chief Information Security Officer (vCISO).

The vCISO is a security specialist with executive level experience that will help organizations to develop and manage the implementation of the organization’s information security program. At a high level, vCISOs help to engineer the organization’s security strategy. An organization may have an internal security team, either reporting to or working with the vCISO to execute an effective security program. Additionally, the vCISO is usually expected to be able to present the organization’s state of information security to an organization’s board, executive team, auditors, or regulators

vCISOs can provide value to organizations by helping with several aspects of the overall information security program, including:

• Information security initiatives and management activities
• Organizational structure
• Establishing a User Awareness Program for Employees
• Security risk management activities
• Evaluation of third parties with access to organizational data
• Coordination of audits by regulators

Advantages of Hiring a Virtual CISO

• CISO demand– Cybersecurity has become the greatest risk to an organization’s longevity. With the rise in cyberattacks, data breaches and sophistication in attacks, organizations wanting to put a comprehensive set of controls and technologies in place need a CISO. A vCISO allows an organization to quickly fill the void, without needing to go through the hiring process.
• CISO cost – While every organization needs a CISO, not every one of them can afford one. A vCISO allows organizations to avoid the expense of employing one in-house full-time, only paying for the services and time used.
• vCISOs can be anywhere– Rather than needing to hire someone locally or need to help pay for a candidate to move, the vCISO works as a consultant, working from about anywhere, giving the organization exposure to more potential candidates.
• vCISOs is a consultant – While not every vCISO works the same, they will only perform the tasks based on an agreed upon scope of work. So, you are only paying for the services you want from them.

The choice of a vCISO versus a full-time CISO may still be unclear. The following helps understand use cases for vCISO vs a CISO.

• Bridging time in hiring a new Full-Time CISO – The departure of a business’s existing CISO may be untimely regarding current security initiatives. A seasoned vCISO can come in, provide value in reviewing the current cybersecurity strategy and help recruit, select, and transition to a full-time CISO.
• You have budget restraints – When a full-time CISO is too costly for a small to medium sized business, a vCISO works on a contract to craft an executive level security program that an organization would, otherwise, not be capable of developing.
• You need a professional to lay the cyber security groundwork – Organizations with or without a current CISO do not have the expertise on a specific compliance mandate and how it translates to creating policies and processes to secure protected information.
• You need help complying with regulations or frameworks – Virtual CISOs, especially those that specialize in regulatory compliance, can assess your current cyber security posture, and find areas for improvement or change. They can develop and implement a plan to help your organization achieve compliance. This way, you will not face crippling noncompliance fees should a security incident occur.
• Cyber Budgets – Whatever your organization was doing 6 months ago to protect against cyber risk is likely not as effective today. A vCISO can help organizations of every size by looking at the current budget, how it is spent, and help identify ways to more effectively and efficiently spend it to create a more secure stance.

Several technology-savvy and forward-looking businesses have understood the benefits of hiring Virtual Cybersecurity Consultants overlooking to recruit one highly qualified professional. Not only is the option of hiring a Virtual CISO cost-effective, but it can also prove to be an easily accessible and more appropriate option for many organizations.

If you would like to know more about our Virtual CISO Services, please reach out to Brockton Point Solutions today.