What is a Virtual CISO or vCISO?

Within an organisation, the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) is the executive responsible for information and data security from Risk analysis and overall Security Architecture, through to ensuring the necessary controls are in place for critical functions such as data backups and access management.

A Virtual CISO (vCISO) performs exactly the same function but is not a member of the internal business executive team, or even an employee of the business but instead is an external resource.

Whether a single dedicated Security Professional or a Security partner, using the services of a vCISO allows a business to leverage the expertise and experience of potentially a whole team of Security experts that they otherwise simply would not have, or have the resources to acquire in-house.

In addition, contrary to having a full-time, permanent CISO on board, a vCISO can be brought in on a part-time basis, for specific projects (such as to design and deliver base security strategy and processes) or just retained to be called upon as need arises.