Can Virtual CISO Services Help Your Business?

Organizations, big or small, are all grappling with combating the onslaught of security attacks, making security a top priority for today’s IT teams in every vertical. As Forbes so broadly states, “Cybersecurity is applicable to every business operation, whether it’s in the military, corporations or entrepreneurs.” And while cybersecurity decisions used to be contained to the boardroom or high-level government agencies, now the average employee is hyper aware of the potential risks a breach can bring.

Yet, despite the rising awareness, many organizations are still woefully unprepared to detect or mitigate an attack before it wreaks havoc on their business. While the entire workforce plays a critical role in a successful security strategy, ultimately responsibility falls on IT security leadership to ensure the confidentiality, integrity and accessibility of the company’s data.

This is a daunting scenario for security leaders who are overwhelmed by their list of to-dos. They can’t do it all and are struggling to narrow down the never-ending list of potential security projects. So, where should they start? “Focus on projects that reduce the most amount of risk and have the largest business impact,” said Gartner vice president and analyst Neil MacDonald.

But what if you don’t even know where you have the greatest risk and what the potential business impact could be? The answer could lie in having the right security expertise and leadership on your team. However according to salary.com, as of December 2018, the average Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) in the US is making $220,114, a salary that may not be feasible in most mid-market organizations. This is where teaming up with a virtual CISO (vCISO) may be a practical option.

How do you know if you could reap the benefits of a  vCISO? Here’s a basic checklist that can help…

• No Security Strategy – Are you lacking a defined security strategy? Or maybe you don’t even have a clear view of what risks you have and could use an outside perspective? If you are in need of a security architecture to use as a foundation to your security program and future roadmap, an up-front assessment is a great place to start.
• Too Many Tools – Is your organization protected by numerous, disparate (and often not integrated) security tools? For full protection in the cloud, thousands of end points and numerous entry points in an infrastructure’s perimeter, all too often tool after tool is deployed in hopes of fortifying against attack, only to lead to tool sprawl and unidentified gaps.
• Too Busy to Properly Execute – Do you have a defined security strategy, but can’t execute as well as you should due to constrained resources? According to recent estimates, there will be as many as 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity positions by 2021, so you’re not alone.
• Great at Execution, but Lacking Documentation – Is your IT security team top notch at keeping your data safe, but less focused on the documentation? Information security management system documentation often gets back-burnered when pressing security fires arise, leading to audit-trail black holes when it’s time to meet compliance mandates or inventory information assets.
• Struggling to Meet Compliance Mandates – Are you struggling to meet your industry’s compliance mandates – ISO, CIS, NIST, PCI, etc.? With GDPR in May of 2018, compliance jumped to the security project forefront for many organizations, adding on to an already mounting list of requirements.

These are just some of the common challenges we’re seeing our customers struggle to address which has led OneNeck to offer our Virtual CISO services. While no two engagements are identical, the general purpose of the OneNeck vCISO service is to work with you to run a security control framework assessment and produce a gap analysis, then provide a remediation plan that addresses the vulnerabilities in your environment. We can also help with the remediation, so that depending on the agreed-to level of engagement, we’re there to help throughout.

Security can be overwhelming, and we want you to know you’re not alone. Interested in hearing how OneNeck’s vCISO service helped a customer improved their existing information security program and boost their overall security posture? Check out this customer story from Gila River Casinos.