For mid-sized organisations, the war for talent is real, especially when seeking to secure topflight talent. You’re negotiating with multiple candidates, only to watch the best applicant to receive a bigger offer just before the start-date.
If you’re on the Board, running an IT department or in charge of governance, and your organisation is at risk of a cyber-attack or breach, you already know the risk of not filling the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) role. The leadership gap is growing, the risk of not being on the cyber front foot is escalating, the time wasted in searching and interviewing is becoming cost prohibitive.
The client question comes: “We know we have to do something, but can we budget for it next year or use the resources we already have?”
Neglecting cybersecurity is not a viable option, so why not consider a virtual resource, who works to your specification, to achieve your goals in a timeframe that works for you, and at a cost you can manage? Sounds like a no brainer?
Welcome to the Virtual CISO
If you:
Know your cybersecurity posture is a risk
Have been exposed to an attack or breach
Been made responsible for cyber as a strategic imperative
Don’t have the budget to hire a full time CISO
Fortunately, the solutions we’re providing are helping our customers access the support they need in a reliable way, adding measurable value within a set timeframe and budget that work for their organisation.
It’s time to share the top seven initiatives you could be moving forward with while you’re looking for your next top talent.
A virtual CISO can:
Evaluate your security maturity
Taking a strategic approach, your vCISO brings the skills, tools, and experience to quickly assess your security maturity and identify programs and technologies to make measurable improvements to your security posture.
Define cyber risks and threats
Navigating the complex landscape of regulatory compliance can be challenging for every mid-sized organisation. A vCISO can provide guidance on meeting information security regulatory requirements, future proofing for regulatory changes and managing compliance risks. Importantly, cybersecurity transcends IT concerns; it’s a paramount enterprise issue. Cyber threats are persistent, strategic enterprise risks to organisations across industries.
Here’s the twist – many business initiatives that drive profitability can also increase cyber risk. The vCISO can help assess risks that could financially impact the organisation, including trade-offs between digital transformation and cyber risk.
Establish or align with a cyber security framework
Gaining alignment with a cybersecurity framework provides a raft of benefits, from providing re-assurance to stakeholders and customers through to reducing premiums for cyber insurance through industry standard processes and procedures. Your vCISO brings all of the knowledge and applications needed to achieve compliance.
Set your cybersecurity strategy
A vCISO is well-versed in the latest cybersecurity trends and threats, helping your organisation develop a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy tailored to your unique business needs and goals. This proactive approach minimises risks and ensures that your company is well-prepared, resourced, and knowledgeable enough to respond quickly to current and emerging threats. By focusing on how to treat cyber risks (through avoidance, acceptance, mitigation or transfer), the vCISO can build a security profile that aligns with business needs and defined risk tolerances or risk appetite.
Establish a cybersecurity roadmap and goals
The cybersecurity strategy defines the ‘what’ and your vCISO will work to establish a roadmap and goals so that the ‘how’ is clearly defined, resources allocated and the entire organisation is aware of accountabilities and deliverables. Making these measurable ensures results are delivered and ROI quantifiable for stakeholders and investors.
Build an Incident Response Plan and Playbook
An incident response plan and playbooks provide the standard response and established and tested procedures and processes which an organisation must take in the unfortunate event of a security breach or in the pre-planning to prevent one. Your vCISO brings expertise which ensures incident response efforts are orchestrated, remediation guided, downtime minimised, and risks mitigated.
Undertake Vendor evaluation and due diligence
Vendor management and negotiations can be a minefield. A vCISO brings a wealth of experience in evaluating and managing information security supplier and vendor terms and contracts, ensuring your tech stack and suppliers are co-ordinated, negotiated and integrated with your cybersecurity plans and organisational goals.
Next steps
We’re often asked about the next steps to securing a vCISO and the cost implications of doing so. The beauty of a vCISO is that it works the way you do. So, if you’re looking at getting on the front foot with any of these (or other) cybersecurity initiatives, get in touch.
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