A full-time vCISO may be tempting for small and midsized organizations, but hiring costs are often too high to justify the expense. That’s why a virtual CISO can be so valuable if you're looking for a cost-effective way to manage your cybersecurity. For a fraction of the cost, a seasoned professional can provide on-demand services so you can still meet your business objectives while decreasing your odds of a security breach.
A full time Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) is a critical role to any organization. It also comes with a sizable cost investment. Many organizations that make up the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) and the Defense Supply Chain (DSC) are not fortunate enough to staff an internal resource whose full-time role is dedicated to roles of a CISO, to focus on NIST SP 800-171 and CMMC. At Beryllium, we offer Virtual Chief Information Security Officer (vCISO) services. The role of a vCISO is to help an organization create and apply strategy and accountability.
Beryllium’s vCISO services come with defined outcomes, timelines, and resource planning so that an OSC is always making progress. An individual taking on the responsibility of a vCISO must have experience working with leadership, IT and other critical teams within an organization in order to communicate clear short term and long-term goals, while showing the progress being made.
If you need to be DFARS 252.204-7012 compliant and have NIST 800-171 implemented, the stakes have never been higher to ensure that your security program meets (and ideally exceeds) expectations. If you want to avoid serious penalties or miss out on new contracts, call 763-546-8354 to schedule a free consultation with a Cybersecurity expert today.
A Virtual CISO (vCISO) will provide organizations with a security expert whenever their security team needs guidance. We work alongside your business objectives and find ways to drive improvements based on your security risk and regulatory standards.
The role of the vCISO is adaptable based on the scope of your business. A mid-sized organization with 150 employees might need someone to spearhead their most crucial information security initiatives, while a small contractor with only 5 people might need someone to take on all risk management responsibilities.
Most vCISOs will not single-handedly plan and execute an entire information security program, but the bar can be raised or lowered depending on your processes’ breadth. Whether you need to be NIST, PCI, HIPAA, or GDPR compliant, every program is assessed on a case-by-case basis.
Clients feel comfortable coming to our vCISOs with all kinds of concerns. We might deal with budgets one day and phishing questions the next. vCISOs can handle these complex concerns and take steps to flesh out your security architecture piece by piece.
For a vCISO to mold themselves into your daily operations, they have to carefully work through each problem. Running an incident response might be relatively simple in one business but present a logistical nightmare at another.
We devise security policies that are both aligned with your security objectives and your financial bottom line. Our services help organizations make smarter decisions so leaders can grow their business without cutting corners.
We provide general oversight of your security team and specific services to reduce your risk and protect your data. The VCISO will support your team and operations, improve the program’s structure, and fill in any gaps that could lead to data loss.
Reviewing a recent risk assessment, or starting with a new one, we look to see how well your current security posture will fare against your specific threat landscape. We understand the legalese behind statutes like DFARS 252.204-7012 and ISO 27001 and how you can meet the official guidelines by adjusting your security strategy.
Few organizations wouldn’t benefit from adding more checks and balances to their information assets. We can help companies implement the 110 controls of NIST SP 800-171 if their staff handles any Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), thus are subject to DFARS 252.204-7012, and potentially 7019, 7020, and 7021. We also look at how your key performance indicators (KPIs) and stakeholders are affected by our services, and we can prevent data breaches without compromising your productivity.
Your information security goal should always be to set up as many layers of defense as possible. If one happens to fall away, there would still be many more to work through before someone even has a chance of finding what they’re looking for. More security awareness doesn't have to mean that your employees live in fear of making decisions. Instead, it can give people the confidence to identify threats and implement better habits into their daily lives.
A strong security system has to be versatile enough to adapt to evolving threats while being firm enough to withstand multiple attacks. Our team of experts has the technical knowledge to detect and defend. We take a hard look at your business-critical technology, how it functions, and when it’s under the most pressure. We use penetration testing and remediation tools to identify your security needs. We streamline communication across the board, making it easy for internal directors, stakeholders, and agency partners to get the information they need.
Clients select our VCISO services for any number of reasons. Some might be looking for an interim leader to step in before hiring a permanent employee. Some clients are looking for someone to fill in a part-time CISO role for a one-off project. Others need a long-term partnership from an experienced professional.
Often, clients are looking for someone with enough experience to provide a more nuanced perspective. They can look at how individual cybersecurity risk is likely to impact an organization. Many company leaders are unaware of just how little effort it would take to successfully tear down the virtual walls of their company's security.
When our vCISOs give you advice, they do so only after taking into account various factors. From NIST standards to security threats, the goal is to look at the situation through an objective lens. A vCISO might not benefit from being in the office, but being on the outside can provide new insight into a problem. Instead of being so mired in the situation, they often see things that internal employees can’t.
Additional reasons for hiring us include:
At Beryllium, we don’t start with our needs — we start with yours. A single contractor running their own business isn’t going to have the same requirements as a mid-sized company of 200 people. We work out solutions, so you're getting services you need and nothing you don’t.
Our vCISOs are industry recognized leaders and able to provide qualified advice that has nothing to do with selling clients’ cybersecurity services that they don’t need. We’re not here to upsell or push you into an all-inclusive package that your company will only use a fraction of.
When you're outsourcing a new CISO instead of hiring an in-house CISO, you only pay for the professional work hours. In any business, a security professional will be used to periods of feast or famine. Now, you don't have to worry about wasting anything during a dry spell.
There's a lot to be said for having security expertise at your fingertips without actually having to put someone on your regular payroll. A virtual Chief Information Security Officer can provide you with a security assessment that will shed light on how you might be leaving your business vulnerable to specific threats.
Small businesses especially might worry about the expense of hiring a vCISO. It can sometimes feel like an unnecessary cost to decision-makers. It’s easy to discount your security, especially if you’ve never personally experienced a hiccup before. But the reality is that you’re taking grave risks if you’re not prioritizing your security programs.
The actual consequences of a successful attack or unintentional destruction are more than a nuisance-they can shut down an organization for good. If the DoD doesn't trust one of its contractors, they won't hesitate to pull contracts away and award them to organizations with better defenses.
Beryllium InfoSec Collaborative has more than 40 years of experience in the security industry. We work with a variety of contractors and businesses that require practical solutions. By developing and executing smarter security plans, we bridge gaps, create strongholds, and keep would-be criminals on their toes. No problem is too difficult (or too specific) for us to handle. Contact us today at 763-546-8354 to learn more about our services and how we can customize the vCISO job to meet your specific needs.
