What Is a Virtual CISO? Do I Need One? The Ultimate Guide to vCISO Services
Small to medium-sized businesses often underestimate how likely they are to experience a cybersecurity breach.
According to an estimate from Cybersecurity Ventures, cybercrime is projected to cost a collective $9.5 trillion worldwide in 2024. IBM’s 2023 Cost of a Data Breach Report found that the financial cost of a data breach for companies with under 500 employees averages $3.31 million, up 13% from the year before.
Building strong cybersecurity defenses and being able to respond quickly to cyber attacks is an increasingly vital aspect of running a business. That’s why many companies are hiring chief information security officers, or CISOs, to help bolster and oversee their cybersecurity needs.
For many companies, hiring a full-time chief information security officer isn’t feasible because of the salary burden, time, and expertise involved in scaling up an in-house team. That’s why a growing number of businesses are turning to virtual CISO (or vCISO) services. These services are a lower-cost, more flexible alternative that lets businesses find the support they need.
What does a vCISO do, and could it be the right choice for your business? Read on to learn more about the ins and outs of virtual CISO services.
What Is a vCISO? What Do They Do?
A vCISO is a consultant who serves as your business’s leading voice in addressing your cybersecurity needs. While a business may have an in-house IT department or work with a managed service provider, a vCISO is a separate position that’s focused on working with business leaders to address cybersecurity from a high level.
Virtual CISOs conduct cybersecurity risk assessments for businesses to identify gaps and weak points in their cybersecurity defenses. They make recommendations on the next steps to take and can help prioritize and budget for the necessary fixes. They can also help your company know what it needs to do to meet cybersecurity compliance standards, navigate qualifications for cyber insurance, or publish cybersecurity protocols for public viewing.
Businesses can hire vCISOs on a per-project basis—for example, hired to simply conduct an initial assessment of a business’s needs and make recommendations—or on an ongoing basis that includes regular assessments, periodic reviews, and ongoing support.
Along with helping your company identify needs, a virtual CISO will be available to respond quickly and capably in the event of a data breach, ensuring that you take the correct steps, follow best practices to remediate the situation, and protect your company’s operations and reputation.
Do I Need a Cybersecurity Consultant?
The services that a virtual CISO provides are needed now more than ever before.
The growing sophistication of artificial intelligence is allowing bad actors to more easily create targeted attacks that could harm your business. And the increasing number of companies using remote workers means that there are more security precautions they need to take as their employees work from different environments, often using unknown devices to connect to their network.
Having a highly knowledgeable cybersecurity consultant at your fingertips will help you minimize your risk by building up your business’s cybersecurity defenses.
A virtual CISO might be right for your business if:
- You need expertise to assess your cybersecurity needs and help you prioritize improvements.
- You need the services of a chief information strategic officer but can’t afford to hire one full-time.
- You need a consultant on hand to help you in the event of a future cyber attack.
- You need cybersecurity services that you can quickly scale upward as your company grows.
What Are the Benefits of a Virtual CISO?
While it’s not plausible for many mid-sized businesses to hire a full-time chief information security officer position, a virtual CISO allows you to only pay for the time and services you need when you need them.
A 2023 survey from the firm Heidrick & Struggles found that CISOs in the United States had a median total cash compensation of $620,000 – an amount that increased to $1.1 million after adding in other forms of compensation and incentives. But virtual CISOs provide services for a fraction of the cost of a full-time CISO. Since an outside company will only be contracted to perform the work that is needed by the business they serve, they can work with you to help you prioritize the services that meet your needs and fit your budget.
This leads to another advantage of a virtual CISO: flexibility. Business leaders can hire a vCISO to provide as much or as little service as needed at the beginning. As their businesses grow, vCISOs give business leaders the option to scale up services as needed without all of the added difficulties of hiring positions and finding the right candidates.
Another advantage of virtual CISOs is that they can provide an outside perspective, one that carries the experience of working with other companies and the knowledge of best practices across industries.
How to Hire a Virtual CISO as a Service
A growing number of companies are offering virtual CISO as a service, meaning that businesses looking to hire one need to be able to know how to choose the best one for their company.
One way to distinguish among providers is to look for vCISO service providers who make available plenty of information on their cybersecurity services, either on their website or promotional materials. You want to know that they are demonstrating their expertise and understanding of how they will approach cybersecurity services, not just making vague promises to help secure your network.
You can read more about the 12 Points Technologies approach to cybersecurity on our website. We offer an extensive suite of cybersecurity services that we will adapt to your needs. Our services include:
Find High-Quality Virtual CISO Services at 12 Points Technologies
At 12 Points Technologies, we take a security-first approach to everything that we do. But we also know that cybersecurity coverage isn’t one-size-fits-all. That’s why our team is ready to form a relationship with your company to learn your needs and provide the flexible services that you need to keep your information secure.
We’d be happy to schedule a call to discuss more about our services and how we can best work as a virtual CISO for your company. We can also put you in touch with some of our customers who can share how our services have helped meet their cybersecurity needs.
Please contact us for more information.
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