Fractional vs. Virtual CISOs – How Leading Companies Are Upping Their Security Strategy

Cybercriminals have upped their game as security teams look to meet new challenges. Oftentimes, these teams are led by a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), but finding the right person to fill that role has been a challenge.

We saw a rise in the need for CISOs as COVID-19 introduced a sharp increase in cybercrime. In a 2021 IDG report, it was reported 78% of executives expressed a lack of confidence in their organization’s ability to deal with cyber risk. This confidence gap highlighted the need to have the right expertise in place to maintain a strong security posture in a world with unexpected and increasing cyber-attacks accompanied by constantly changing regulations.

No matter the size of your business, it’s imperative that cyber threats aren’t ignored. From large corporations to start-up businesses, there is vital information in play that can be hacked at any moment. For mid-market enterprises that need a strategic vision behind their cybersecurity efforts, it’s often impossible to find and/or afford a CISO, leaving them directionless in a fast-moving threat environment.  

To combat the CISO shortage, many companies have tapped into outsourced CISO services. It’s important to know the difference between your options, and what they can do for you. Fractional CISOs are part-time, on-site chief information security officers there to maintain a company’s cybersecurity as well as other IT roles within and/or outside the company. Virtual CISOs (vCISO) are outsourced, off-site security resources for businesses that can’t/don’t want to hire cybersecurity personnel as payroll employees or do not require a full-time, dedicated resource based on the needs of their organization. They collaborate with key organizational leadership to formalize cybersecurity policy, mitigate cyber risk through technical solution, and ongoing validation and improvement of cybersecurity programs.

 A fractional CISO might be more equipped to handle low cyber risk organizations while vCISOs have a wide breadth of expertise from a variety of mature clients. This results in vCISOs having access to the latest resources and their ability to deliver increased knowledge regarding current industry trends and regulations.

It’s important to consider which CISO service is best for your business, but in our eyes, the obvious choice is to engage in a vCISO service that offers exceptional benefits: promised cost savings, access to the latest and greatest technology and resources, and unmatched expertise in industry regulations (healthcare, financial services, legal, etc.).  Most importantly, a qualified cybersecurity resource like a vCISO will guarantee a proactive approach to cyber risk mitigation and provide your organization with the appropriate level of protection in today’s cyber landscape.

At Thrive, we emphasize the importance of maintaining a security posture through our comprehensive vCISO services: 

• Industry-leading information security program management
• Thrive’s vCISO serves as a trusted security advisor
• Information security governance and compliance oversight
• Information security program reviews
• Review of existing policies, controls, and security toolsets
• IT Management remediation plans
• Prioritized improvements for IT Management
• Incident response preparedness and annual incident response table-top exercise
• Center for Internet Security (CIS) framework implementation

Consider Thrive for your vCISO needs and learn more about our vCISO service and how our security-first NextGen Managed Services can help your organization.