Many businesses today are turning to virtual chief information security officers (vCISOs) to manage information security remotely and more affordably. Like their in-house counterparts, these virtual officers bring the deep understanding of strategic design, planning, and technologies, the industry knowledge, and the people skills needed for modern information security and data privacy. vCISO services often tap the knowledge and experience of a seasoned team of security specialists, which adds value and expertise.

Together, these capabilities can help provide peace of mind for business leaders who are alarmed by the rising frequency and sophistication of cyberattacks and the increasingly complexity of guarding against them.

Current challenges for IT security

Today’s uncertainty has reiterated the unequivocal need for a dedicated security team and leader, and as more businesses look to hire a CISO, security professionals will become ever more in-demand and costly. 

• As AI grows more and more ubiquitous in business, it introduces more risks and creates additional security challenges that require adequate security processes and controls, from guarding data to staying vigilant against deepfakes.

• Today’s complex cyber threats need to be remediated quickly, or organizations will find themselves more vulnerable. They need cyber teams that understand offensive, defensive, resilience, and recovery strategies.
• Regulations designed to protect consumer information – such as the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (CDPA), and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – require that organizations implement intricate processes and sophisticated technologies to handle customer requests to know, correct, and delete their personal data.
•  Ongoing mergers and acquisitions (M&A) require integrations of systems and processes with each successful deal – each bringing their own risks.

These challenges are not insurmountable. A vCISO can provide the enterprise-caliber expertise needed to architect and implement customized security, privacy, and compliance solutions.

The tangible benefits of a virtual CISO

• Sharpen decision-making: A vCISO can provide insights into cybersecurity risks that can enable management to make informed, data-driven decisions. Organizations that lack a CISO tend to focus on financial risks, with inadequate consideration of cyber-risks. That can expose them to security incidents. With specialized assessment tools and strategies such as cyber risk quantification, a vCISO can help organizations make strategic decisions on where and how to invest to mitigate their most pressing risks.
• Stretch resources: vCISOs can help organizations efficiently and affordably fulfill security leadership roles. Businesses can, for example, quickly fill a vacant CISO position by engaging a vCISO, which eliminates administrative hiring hurdles and costs. Another way a vCISO can stretch resources: Organizations pay only for services and time used. And they can harness the skills and knowledge of internal security teams, as well as external peers and industry partners, to augment security capabilities without adding costs.
• Deliver high trust and deep experience: With deep experience in designing, implementing, and managing security programs, vCISOs typically bring a broad range of proficiencies and historical knowledge across industries. They can also tap into their personal networks of skilled peers and solutions vendors for advice and problem-solving.
• Implement policy and planning: While IT staff have the technical chops to manage across the technology stack and networks, they often lack the time and training to formulate policies, strategy, and planning, and to manage/monitor risks adequately. A vCISO can bring and balance knowledge of both technologies and security controls and policy and planning capabilities.
• Build resilience: Today’s tech-reliant companies are increasingly vulnerable to new and sophisticated cyber threats such as phishing, malware, password theft, etc. A vCISO can help build a resilient environment that can withstand various attacks, through training, planning, and other forms of carefully building a risk-minded culture.
• Boost efficiencies: A vCISO can help create efficiencies across the enterprise. They can, for instance, help minimize burdens of managing full-time employees, perform ongoing activities like penetration testing and vulnerability scanning, develop effective employee training and awareness programs, and more.
• Enhance compliance: Organizations that lack a CISO may also need help unraveling the intricacies of regulatory compliance. Whether they need to create an overall compliance program or fine-tune existing policies for new regulations, a vCISO can provide the focused expertise needed to complete the job.
• Third-party risk management: A vCISO can design and implement a program for managing third-party risks that elevates mitigation to be an enterprise-wide initiative – one that helps lessen risks associated with malware and ransomware, implements effective security controls, continually monitors vendor activity, and boosts awareness through regular employee training. 

How CohnReznick’s vCISO services can help

CohnReznick’s industry-agnostic, globally minded vCISO offering provides a curated selection of security and privacy capabilities to help organizations achieve their specific needs.

^{This has been prepared for information purposes and general guidance only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. You should not act upon the information contained in this publication without obtaining specific professional advice. No representation or warranty (express or implied) is made as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this publication, and CohnReznick, its partners, employees and agents accept no liability, and disclaim all responsibility, for the consequences of you or anyone else acting, or refraining to act, in reliance on the information contained in this publication or for any decision based on it.}