What is a virtual CISO

Top-tier security experts to guide your security program

A virtual CISO (sometimes called a fractional CISO) is a service designed to make top-tier security experts available to organizations who need security expertise and guidance. Our team of experts has decades of experience; building information security programs that work WITH business objectives and show measurable improvement to security posture.

Secure Shields Virtual CISO Program

An Secure Shield vCISO engagement is designed to meet security programs where they’re at. We start by going through an onboarding assessment to get an understanding of the maturity of your program. With that, we can provide initial remediation recommendations to address glaring concerns and prepare you for a more extensive risk assessment. Ultimately, your vCISO engages in a constant cycle of assessing and remediating—allowing you to meet your security goals.

How can we help?

Work with a Secure Shield vCISO or fractional CISO to help build and improve your security program in the ways that impact your business most.

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Risk Management

Understand your risk exposure and take steps to minimize it with expert guidance. We help you identify key areas of risk through assessments, perform tabletop testing, and assist in developing disaster recovery, business continuity, and incident response plans to enhance your cybersecurity posture and build resilience.

Compliance Rediness

We identify which regulatory standards your organization needs to meet, then perform a thorough compliance readiness assessment. We find the gaps, prepare a plan to close them and manage the plan’s execution together with you

Tailored Security Policies

We create a tailor-made set of easy-to-follow, actionable policies, adjusted to your specific needs, your IT environment and tools, relevant regulatory requirements and industry benchmarks.

Incident Response Plans

We create strategic remediation plans with prioritized tasks. Each task is explained in a clear and intuitive way, making it easy to follow and implement. And each task includes impact and criticality rate.

Gain long-term visibility

We track and measure your security posture and risk level over time, identifying mission-critical trends and keeping you always in the know.

Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM)

Eliminate the hassles and uncertainty associated with TPRM, also known as vendor risk management. We work with you to identify and assess potential risks posed by external partners, enabling you to safeguard your operations and reputation.  Learn more about Secure Shields TPRM

Penetration Testing

Test your security defenses against a simulated cyber-attack. We offer a variety of penetration testing options and provide actionable recommendations to help you fortify your defenses. Learn more about Secure Risk

How Our vCISO Service Works

Full Risk Assessment

With the help of your Secure Shield analyst, this assessment will determine administrative, physical, internal, and external technical risk so that targeted improvements can be made.

Roadmap

A roadmap will be created based on the findings from your full risk assessment, then we will begin by focusing on the highest impact security objectives to improve your security posture and business as a whole.

Day to Day vCISO Operations

Your vCISO will be your security expert to ensure your organization stays on target and will be there to assist with coaching, policies, asset management, or wherever else your in-house team requires additional support.

“Since our industry is so highly regulated, we wanted to be sure our security was performing as well as it possibly could. We are subject to customer audits, and Secure Shield helped us strengthen our policies and operating procedures to frame us in the best light with our clients. There is a lot of depth to their background in information security and physical security. They know how to provide full coverage and give good suggestions to eliminate gaps.”

Our Unique Approach

Benefits of working with Secure Shield

We blend cutting-edge technology with expert human insight to develop tailored strategies that make sense for your unique business.

Gain a Trusted Advisor

Benefit from the expertise of seasoned CISOs with decades of hands-on experience, providing strategic, vendor-agnostic guidance tailored to your organization. Our team ensures you have the support you need, empowering you to navigate your cybersecurity roadmap with us as your trusted advisors.

Enhance Your Security Posture

Receive actionable recommendations to strengthen your defenses. Our team provides strategic guidance to enhance your cybersecurity program, enabling you to make informed decisions to protect your organization effectively.

Optimize Security Leadership Spend

Access top-tier security leadership without the financial burden of a full-time CISO. We offer cost-effective, expert security management that helps you maximize your security investments and efficiently allocate resources.

Secure Your Future with Ongoing Support and Guidence

Safeguard your organization against evolving threats. Our team offers an unparalleled depth of experience and a relentless commitment to your security goals, ensuring your business remains resilient and secure in the years to come.

Questions?

Virtual CISO FAQs

What is CISO as a service

CISO as a service is another name for virtual CISO consulting services. A provider like Secure Shield assigns organizations a proven and certified information security professional to help organizations protect sensitive information and achieve related business goals along the way.

What does a Virtual CISO do?

A virtual CISO is an assigned resource with experience building and improving information security programs. Starting with a risk assessment, a vCISO first gets an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of an organization’s security program. Based on the results, the vCISO then works with executive leadership teams to understand goals, budget, and bandwidth—allowing them to provide actionable recommendations, or a roadmap, based on the business’s goals and the risk assessment’s findings. With the roadmap in place, they work with the organization’s internal security team to train staff and make the recommended improvements, improving the ability of the organization to protect its sensitive information and increase its operational efficiencies. Over time, they simply become a sounding board for the organization’s staff to bounce questions and challenges off of.

How much does a Virtual CISO cost?

Virtual CISO cost is based on several variables such as the size and complexity of your organization, the number of devices in your network, and estimated time spent working with you as a client. You should expect to spend $1500-$3000 or more per month based on these factors. This price includes annual assessments, road mapping, vulnerability scanning, consulting services, and access to portal software for tracking and communication purposes. Our typical virtual CISO cost less over time as our clients’ security programs go into “maintenance mode,” where the consistent building effort is no longer a factor.

What are the responsibilities of a vCISO

Secure Shield vCISO services are meant to be flexible in order to meet the needs of each of our clients. Engagements typically follow a cycle of assess, plan, and remediate.

Whether you need high-level guidance on a monthly or quarterly basis or need hands-on help several days per week, our vCISO’s will be able to build a solution for you.

Typical objectives of vCISO engagements include:

  • Information security leadership and guidance
  • Steering committee leadership or participation
  • Security compliance management
  • Security policy, process, and procedure development
  • Incident response planning
  • Security training and awareness
  • Board and executive leadership presentations
  • Security assessment
  • Internal audit
  • Vulnerability assessments
  • Risk assessment
  • And much, much more.
What are the benefits of a vCISO

Lower Cost Over Time

Virtual CISO cost can be expensive depending on your business’s size and needs. But, most of the work is preliminary, so the involvement (and therefore what a virtual CISO costs) decreases over time.

Extensive Industry Knowledge and Skill

Does your “security” person wear a ton of hats in the organization? It’s not uncommon for companies to assign security roles as a secondary function of an employee’s primary role. Because of this, they’re often not true experts.

vCISOs, especially those at Secure Shield, are highly skilled and certified experts with years of information security experience. A virtual CISO is going to be able to enhance the internal capabilities of your employees tasked with handling security through the techniques they’ve learned.

Limited Turnover

Let’s face it, the security job market is as competitive as ever. We have to worry about employees leaving anyway, but that only adds to it. With an Secure Shield vCISO, you equip your team with the expertise, methodologies, and resources to avoid losing a step—either as you work to hire a new CISO, or if you want our team to occupy that role.