How can SMEs get Board Level CISO Expertise? With a Virtual CISO

There is a C-level revolution happening. Over 40% of boards now demand resource whose focus is cyber resilience and risk treatment. Stated by Gartner recently this is a huge lift from the 10% reported previously.

Gone are the days of unsophisticated attacks that were far easier to spot and manage. The various cyber-attacks launched as part of the Ukraine War or the ransomware attacks against the Royal Mail have only highlighted the increase of threats from nation states and cyber criminals. We now see these threat actors use much more advanced methods to snare victims either individually or as a jumping board to gain access to organisations. All of which shall require C-Level intervention and the expertise to address the risks such attacks pose.

Businesses today need board-level authority to deal with incidents quickly and authoritatively. It also needs a senior person to maintain the license to operate. For example; credit card payments, maintaining government standards and meeting tender framework requirements.

A company’s boarders are no longer the corporate office, as workforces are being spread out. The change in the world since the pandemic has seen many businesses have to offer flexi-home working. The IT team is no longer next to you and it’s harder to quickly check with colleagues.  This leads to less controls at home,  and people are harder to train, or seen as “easier targets”. Attackers can pick them off one at time; why focus on a group when you can pick of the weakest in the herd?

But, not all Boards have capacity. Many SMEs and mid-sized organisations do not have the luxury of dedicated cyber security resource. Let alone a C-level nominee that has the expertise to address the risks. Additionally, many of them cannot afford the likes of a CISO or they simply do not know their risk landscape and subsequently their true cyber security maturity posture.

This is where Cyro Cyber can help. We work with such organisations to bring the specialist demands of resource and expertise required.

The Cyro Virtual CISO (vCISO) service gives organisations a part-time highly experienced and knowledgeable CISO. The vCISO can be parachuted into an organisation’s board so they can get to know business requirements and strategy, understand operations and ultimately fully understand your cyber security posture. Once this is understood the vCISO service is then designed to provide the appropriate methods of ongoing governance and strategy. At the same time they will make the appropriate tooling recommendations required to maintain healthy levels of cybersecurity maturity that are relevant to your industry sector.

The world is changing; the composition of your Board needs to change too. It’s possible to have cyber expertise at Board level in a way that suits you.

Paul Rose, Chief Security Officer

Are you interested in a Virtual CISO? Drop Paul a line to find out more. hello@cyro.uk