Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity strategy and vCISO support
Not every organization needs a full-time CISO, but every organization needs someone to decide what to protect first, explain it to leadership and keep the program moving. We provide that leadership on a part-time basis.
The problem this service solves
Growing companies often have security tools and no strategy. Purchases follow the latest incident or sales call. Nobody owns the risk register, customer questionnaires arrive faster than answers, and the board asks questions nobody can answer in plain language.
A vCISO sets direction. The work begins with a clear view of what matters to the business, builds a roadmap that fits the budget and then helps the team execute and report on it.
What is in scope
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Risk assessment
Business-led view of assets, threats, existing controls and the gaps that matter.
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Roadmap and budget
A phased plan with costs, owners and outcomes, sized for the organization.
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Policies and standards
Concise, usable policies in place of long documents nobody reads.
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Program management
Prioritization, status reporting and removing blockers.
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Vendor and tool decisions
Review proposals, avoid overlap and challenge claims.
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Customer assurance
Questionnaire strategy and a reusable evidence library.
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Executive and board reporting
Short, plain-language reports with a few meaningful measures.
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Incident readiness
Roles, decision authority and a tested plan.
How the work runs
Assess
Establish the baseline.
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1
Stakeholder interviews
Learn what leaders worry about and what the business depends on.
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2
Control and risk review
Review current controls against a framework such as NIST CSF 2.0.
Plan
Decide.
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3
Roadmap
Sequence initiatives by risk reduction per effort.
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4
Budget
Align costs with the plan and explain trade-offs.
Guide
Make it happen.
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5
Regular cadence
Recurring working sessions and reports.
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6
Review
Adjust the roadmap at agreed intervals.
What you receive
- Risk assessment and register
- Security roadmap and budget
- Policy set
- Board and executive report template
- Customer assurance pack
- Ongoing advisory sessions as agreed
Tooling and technique
Tool categories describe how we work. They are not a claim of vendor partnership or certification.
Standards we map to
Mapping findings to a framework is not the same as certification against it.
Before we start
What we need from you
- An executive sponsor with authority over priorities
- A list of customer commitments and contracts with security terms
- Access to IT and engineering leaders
What this service is not
- A substitute for operational security staff
- Legal accountability for security decisions (that remains with your officers)
What changes afterwards
- Leaders know the top risks and what is being done
- Security spending follows a plan
- Customer reviews take hours, not weeks
Questions people ask
What is a vCISO?
A virtual CISO provides senior security leadership part-time, typically to organizations too small or too early to hire a full-time executive.
Can the vCISO sign off on compliance?
A vCISO advises. Attestation and certification come from independent auditors, and accountability remains with your management.
Related
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NIST CSF 2.0 self-assessment
Thirty questions across Govern, Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond and Recover, with a transparent score and a list of gaps.
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NIST CSF 2.0 assessment
Assess current and target maturity across the six functions of NIST CSF 2.0: Govern, Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, Recover.
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SOC 2 readiness
Prepare for a SOC 2 examination: scope, control design, evidence collection, gap remediation and a mock walkthrough.
Need to understand your security exposure?
Speak with a security expert
Talk through your environment and goals. We reply to scope the work before anything is tested.
Speak with a security expertPlan an assessment
Answer a few questions and get a structured preliminary scope you can send us.
Use the plannerUnder attack right now?
Call the US office and tell us what you are seeing. Do not wait for a form reply.
Incident response