vCISO for Private Equity Cybersecurity

Regulators, investors, and hackers – oh my! They’re all carefully watching how you do (or don’t) manage cybersecurity.

Prove you prioritize private equity cybersecurity by picking Fractional CISO. We’ll manage your compliance requirements and guide your portfolio to security success.

WHAT WE DO

Manage Private Equity Cybersecurity & Regulatory Risk

You have a unique risk profile: Every company in your portfolio is vulnerable to cyber attacks. Investors expect you to improve their cybersecurity posture. Regulators may punish you if you don’t.

Fractional CISO offers a holistic approach to cybersecurity for private equity firms. We assess, monitor, and report on the cybersecurity status of your entire portfolio, ensuring regulatory compliance. These assessments create actionable steps for each organization in your portfolio to improve their security.

Portfolio Monitoring & Reporting

Periodic security assessments and continuous monitoring of all portfolio companies
Regular executive reports make it easy for you to keep tabs on the cybersecurity status of your portfolio
Documented processes and reports ensure regulatory and investor compliance

Portfolio-wide Cybersecurity Improvements

Assessments and monitoring are used to map out cybersecurity improvements
Pooled information and template resources available to all portfolio companies to use
Custom remediation planning to help portfolio companies fill cybersecurity gaps

Due Diligence Evaluations

Cybersecurity assessments of potential acquisition companies
Evaluation of all product lines, IT systems, and corporate security practices
Project roadmap for target companies to close identified security gaps quickly after acquisition

Common Types of Attacks Against Private Equity Firms

Private equity firms are actually more vulnerable to cyber attacks than most when you consider just how many businesses some of them own. PE firms don’t just have to worry about their own cybersecurity posture, they can experience a loss when any of their portfolio companies are attacked!

Common types of cybersecurity attacks a private equity firm may experience include:

Phishing Attacks
Ransomware Attacks
Business Email Compromise (BEC) Attacks
Malware Infections
Data Breaches

Benefits of Cybersecurity in Private Equity

By investing in the cybersecurity of your portfolio, your PE firm is protecting its investments from the risk of costly or catastrophic cyber attacks, reducing your own regulatory risk as government agencies increase enforcement, and helping your portfolio companies grow as their cybersecurity programs can be used to unlock sales to larger clients.

Your Private Equity Cybersecurity Team.

With the stroke of your e-signature, you’ll add decades of cumulative private equity cybersecurity experience to your firm’s org chart. Your portfolio will be managed by a team of cybersecurity experts led by a CISSP-certified Virtual CISO and supported by one or more cybersecurity analysts.

Our team approach ensures that your cybersecurity team will always be available – you don’t lose access to your vCISO just because they go on vacation! Plus, different Fractional CISO personnel have different specializations. They will be tapped to help you with their domain of expertise as needed.

RJ Russsell, CISSP
vCISO Principal

Example Team

Sean Kelley
Cybersecurity Analyst

Customized Private Equity Cybersecurity Programs

What’s the best private equity cybersecurity program? The answer is simple…

It depends!

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to cybersecurity. We tailor your program to your firm’s unique needs. Different organizations within your portfolio will have their own unique threat landscapes, risk tolerances, and compliance needs. A difference as simple as being a Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 shop can impact what controls are best. We consider these topics when helping your portfolio companies to secure themselves.

Quantitative Methodology

What do “high,” “medium,” and “low,” mean anyways?

When it comes to informing strategic decisions, qualitative metrics are mediocre at best and misleading at worst.

We speak the language of business – dollars and probabilities – not the “highs” and “lows” of traditional cybersecurity providers. Our QuantiShield™ Quantitative Risk Assessment makes it easier to prioritize cyber risk treatment, increasing the efficiency of your cybersecurity spend.

What our Clients are Saying

Fractional CISO came in and helped us build a cybersecurity program from the ground up. They developed a security management framework for us based on CIS Controls, adapted specifically to our use. Our regular meetings with our vCISO keep us informed of new risks, and push us to constantly improve. I feel much more confident in my company’s cybersecurity with them in our organization!

Karen G. CEO Software Company

I’ve been impressed at how Fractional CISO has systematically tackled our complex, multi-product environment. Their evaluations and recommendations have given me a complete understanding of each products’ cybersecurity posture. As the guy who is on the hook for keeping all of our corporate and customer data secure, the piece of mind that Fractional CISO brings me is invaluable!

Caesar N. CTO, e-commerce company

Fractional CISO analyzed our environment and made great security recommendations right away. Our technical team implemented many of their suggestions resulting in significantly reduced cybersecurity exposure within three months of starting the relationship. Thank you, Fractional CISO!

Lorna J. CFO Non-Profit Trade Group

Our cybersecurity program has gotten off to a terrific start with the help from Fractional CISO. They’ve created and customized policies, helped us find and evaluate key vendors and assisted us in reducing risk, all in the first few months of our engagement!

Jeff H. CTO Consulting Company

We needed to improve our cybersecurity program to protect our rapidly growing business. Fractional CISO quickly integrated themselves with our team. They were able to provide great guidance for our security and privacy programs.

John P. CIO SaaS Company

Many of our enterprise customers were looking for assurance on how one of our new features works and that it is operating in a secure manner. We hired Fractional CISO in part to create a cybersecurity whitepaper to explain how our new feature is secure. They did an amazing job, resulting in better customer acceptance of the feature and we continue to work with them in other areas and departments of the company to review security.

Mehul A. VP Product and Engineering
Technology Company

We get a large number of customer security questionnaires. Fractional CISO has helped us respond effectively while creating a library of answers and building out our cybersecurity program. They even handle customer calls with our clients when they have cybersecurity questions.

Carl G. CEO SaaS Company

One of our large financial services customers had a lot of security demands and we needed quick action. I emailed Fractional CISO in the middle of the night and seven hours later, we were a client! Now, as our security partner, Fractional CISO is helping us to manage this and other customers and their security expectations. They are also assisting us with maintaining our security program including assisting with SOC 2 and ISO 27001.

Mark H. CEO SaaS Company

We now have a SOC 2 program in place! Fractional CISO got us from start to a SOC 2 Type 1 Attestation Report in just a few months. They helped us put the controls in place, helped us make process changes and are now helping us maintain the program.

Scott M. CEO Life Sciences Company

Fractional CISO helped us get a handle on our cybersecurity program. We now have a stronger compliance program for both ISO 27001 and GDPR and are able to better manage our cybersecurity risk.

Richard L. CIO Consulting Company

Fractional CISO was instrumental in helping us build and execute our cybersecurity plan. We now are operating at a lower risk level and we are able to close more deals due to our better cybersecurity profile.

Jeff D. COO Fintech Provider

Get Started

Ready to manage your cyber and regulatory risk?

Fill out the form to get in touch!

Private Equity Cybersecurity FAQs

What Are the Key Challenges in Cybersecurity for Private Equity?

Private equity firms face a few big cybersecurity challenges. The SEC increasingly expects them to be ultimately responsible for their portfolio’s cybersecurity. It’s challenging to manage cybersecurity for so many different organizations. The companies they invest in have different levels of security readiness and there’s no standard way to report these risks. Additionally, portfolio companies in different industries will be subject to different industry-specific compliance. Strong cybersecurity programs are often required for portfolio companies to achieve the growth desired of them. Lastly, integrating new companies’ cybersecurity after acquisition requires careful planning.

What Are Common Cyber Threats Aimed at Private Equity Firms?

Private equity firms face many threats – and face extra risk exposure through their portfolio companies. Phishing attacks are a big one, where scammers send tricky emails to steal sensitive information. Then there’s ransomware, where hackers lock up your data and demand money to release it. Insider threats can be a problem too, with someone inside the company causing trouble. Data breaches are another headache, exposing all sorts of confidential information. And don’t forget about supply chain attacks, where hackers target your partners to get to you. It’s a lot to handle, but being aware and having good security measures in place can make a huge difference.

Why Does a vCISO Make Sense for Private Equity Cybersecurity?

A vCISO can be a game-changer for a private equity firm’s cybersecurity management. Virtual CISOs can be tasked with managing the entire portfolio’s cybersecurity, significantly reducing the burden on the private equity firm itself. They make meeting SEC reporting requirements significantly easier, and of course will help the private equity firm protect itself from cyber attacks.