Virtual CISO: Benefits & Responsibilities

What is a vCISO, you might be asking? By definition, a Virtual Chief Information Security Officer or vCISO is outsourced security practitioner or provider who offers their time and insight to an organization on an ongoing basis (usually part-time and remotely). The most prominent virtual CISOs not only have a good technical foundation, but also often have business backgrounds, numerous industry certification, and the skills needed to communicate with other C-level executives and the board. The Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) role is very difficult to fill. Salary ranges are upwards of $250,000 and the pool of candidates may not be very deep. Different geographic regions may not have the right candidates as well, so expenses may be added to the hiring process. One of the more profound statistics we have seen state the average tenure of a CISO is only 2 years. A vCISO will come with numerous years of experience across many different industries and be obtainable for a fraction of the cost of a full internal CISO. A vCISO can operate in an onsite or remote fashion. vCISO services offer far better flexibility because the organization can prioritize what challenges or pain points the person should focus on.

What are some of the vCISO services that can help your organization? Below are some of the vCISO benefits we offer our clients:

• Security Operations: Real-time analysis of threats; triage if something goes wrong
• Cyber Risk & Cyber Intelligence: Keep vigilant of developing security threats; help the board understand potential security problems that might arise from acquisitions or other big business moves
• Data Loss & Fraud Prevention: Make sure internal staff don’t misuse or steal data
• Security Architecture: Plan, buy, and roll out security hardware and software; make sure IT and network infrastructure is designed with best security practices in mind
• Identity & Access Management: Ensure only authorized people have access to restricted data and systems
• Program Management: Keep ahead of security needs by implementing programs or projects that mitigate risks (e.g. regular system patches)
• Investigations & Forensics: Determine what went wrong in a breach; deal with those responsible if they’re internal; plan to avoid repeats of the same crisis
• Governance: Make sure all of the above initiatives run smoothly, get the funding they need, and are understood by corporate leadership

These are just a handful of the Virtual CISO responsibilities organizations need help implementing and maintaining. Compliance efforts, Cyber Insurance responses, as well as customer or client security questionnaires, need to be answered appropriately.

For more information, please visit Wolf’s vCISO webpage.