Oct 2024
What is vCISO and it's benefits
A Virtual Chief Information Security Officer (vCISO) focuses on providing leadership, strategic direction, governance and compliance for companies. They give an informed view of the information security risk an organisation is carrying, and help it to define a strategy and roadmap aligned to its risk appetite, and proportionate to its needs.
The benefits of a vCISO
Board level engagement
It’s never been more imperative to articulate matters of cyber and information the board and executives more effectively, and a vCISO can bridge the gap between the teams and senior stakeholders to develop impactful and concise cyber performance dashboards, draw out top risks and treatment plans, and consider business cases to support the need for proportionate investment in remediation activities.
Cost effective
A highly-skilled, full-time CISO is an expensive resource that comes at a premium and is not easy to recruit. The strategic aspects of information security, if done effectively, are likely to be less than a full-time role. Engaging a vCISO for one to two days per week provides a competitive and economic option.
Encourage a positive security culture
It is important for everyone in your organisation to help facilitate security, but a vCISO can implement policies and raise awareness aligned with company values and goals. This means everyone in an organisation not only knows what they need to do to maintain a secure organisation, but they understand the importance of doing so.
Sector skill
A vCISO will often have worked across a range of clients and sectors, meaning the information they have is vast and in depth. This can only help in allowing you to make the best decisions possible and find the right solutions to pinch points in your business.
External threats and horizon scanning
A vCISO is regularly horizon scanning and assessing new and emerging threats, this information can be disseminated into your team to ensure you have strong external threat understanding and can react to any increased risk accordingly. Cyber and information security continually evolve, and new changes to the recent ISO27001 standard specifically draw out the need to have a consistent, informed view of actionable threat intelligence.
Find out how we can help
For more insights into different topics this cyber month, take a look at our recent articles here.
To find out more about what we can offer you and your business, contact us at info@waterstons.com or contact our cyber security team at cyber@watetstons.com.
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