CISO (Chief Information Security Officers) as a service is part of the raft of new facilities available to businesses looking to ensure that they have security leadership, without the need to recruit and employ a permanent member of staff. CISO as a service removes both cost burden and the challenging of finding the right person by making available industry recognised experts who can be drafted into cover some – or all – of the security needs of the business.
The role of the CISO
This senior level executive deals with aligning areas such as security and business objectives and ensuring that there is proper protection in place for information assets and technology. Regulatory compliance, data privacy, implementing security strategy and designing security architecture, as well as handling data privacy and working with others in the organisation to focus on business continuity are all key elements of the CISO role.
Working without a CISO?
For growing enterprises, the need to keep costs to a minimum is understandable and many organisations assume that their small size means that a) they are likely under the radar for any passing cyber criminals looking to profit from a hack and b) they don’t yet have anything much to protect. However, the reality is that every business has data from the minute it starts up and in the early stages of development, adequate security leadership ensures that the company grows in a positive and protected way. CISO as a service can also provide an extra layer of support to organisations with embryonic or minimal CISO, adding strength and a layer of audit to the security of a business’ IT.
CISO as a service
The alternative to going without a CISO is often assumed to be employing someone directly. However, the costs and time involved in this can be prohibitive, especially to enterprises that may be first starting out. This is where CISO as a service steps in – providing the coverage of security leadership but at a cost that is tailored to the business in question. CISO may be right for your business if it would benefit from the following:
- No need for a full time employee
- Service tailored to the needs of the individual business – put together CISO coverage for the areas required, whether that’s threat intelligence and information security governance oversight, or benchmarking of security maturity and project and business strategy advice (relating to security implications).
- Insightful advice from experts who would be out of price range as a contracted employee.
