Virtual CISO

Virtual Chief Information Security Officer

FRSecure FACT and vCISO (Virtual CISO) Program

What is a Virtual CISO?

Virtual 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.

How Does FRSecure Approach vCISO Engagements?

A good vCISO program combines risk assessment results and remediation efforts. It’s important to understand the current state of your security program so we understand where to focus moving forward. FRSecure does this through our FACT program.

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What is FRSecure’s FACT Program?

FACT, or Functional, Accurate, and Comprehensive Trust system, 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.

Things to Know About Virtual CISO

  • How much does a Virtual CISO cost?

    vCISO services can cost as little as $35k per year and as much as $250k per year. Our typical vCISO engagements decrease in cost over time as our client’s security programs go into “maintenance mode,” where the constant building effort is no longer a factor.

  • 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.

  • What is CISO as a service?

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

  • How much does a CISO make?

    The truth is, CISOs are expensive. Most of them cost between $250k and $350k when you factor in salaries and benefits. That’s not always easy for small- and medium-sized businesses to cover.

  • What are the responsibilities of a vCISO?

    FRSecure’s vCISO offering is 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
    • Penetration testing
    • Social engineering
    • Vulnerability assessments
    • Risk assessment
    • And much, much more.

  • What are the benefits of vCISO vs. CISO?

    Lower Cost Over Time

    A typical vCISO engagement is between $35k and $250k annually and depending on your business’s size and needs. But, most of the work is preliminary, so the involvement (and therefore the cost) 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 FRSecure, 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 FRSecure 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.

Your Situation

  • I can’t afford/don’t need a full-time CISO

    Most small and middle-sized organizations don’t have the money to hire a CISO or enough work to keep one busy. vCISO service is a great way to apply verifiable industry experience to clarify your needs and apply scalable bandwidth and flexible costs.

  • I don’t know where to start

    Most organizations’ appointed “security officers” have very little formal security training and would not count security as their primary job function. Hiring a vCISO will bring access to a team of experts with a wide range of specialized expertise to help augment internal capabilities.

  • Our security person recently left

    The market for security talent is tough. No turnover is a vCISO advantage as is the application of a proven methodology. Whether you decide to hire another full-time security professional or not, a vCISO can bridge the gap and make sure that expertise isn’t lost in the transition.

    Whatever your security challenge, it never hurts to talk to an expert. If we can’t address your need directly, we’ll get you pointed in the right direction.