Was it time for Sarah, the founder of a hybrid SaaS company, to hire a virtual CISO (vCISO)?
After all, her startup had grown well beyond her expectations overnight. If by overnight, you mean a full year of consistent planning, hard work, and a bit of luck.
Sarah grew her company from one employee to 50. She had been proactive about most growing pains and with news of new cybersecurity breaches popping up every month, she began to worry about the risks her business faced. Not wanting to leave any business risks unchecked, she decided to take action.
Yes, it was indeed time to hire a cybersecurity professional.
But, should she make the hefty investment and hire a full-time CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) or should she pursue a more flexible, cost-effective vCISO, instead?
Introduction to Virtual CISO Responsibilities
Given their flexibility and cost-effectiveness, vCISOs have become a popular choice for growing businesses, like Sarah’s, that need to create and maintain a strong cybersecurity program. But what exactly does a vCISO do, and how do they differ from their full-time counterparts?
What Sets Virtual CISOs Apart?
Virtual CISOs are unlike full-time CISOs in that they are not considered employees of the organization but rather contracted freelancers or firms. Since a vCISO operates on a contract basis, they are more affordable than hiring a full-time executive and offer the ability to scale to cybersecurity challenges as necessary.
Otherwise, their level of expertise is comparable, as is the expectation to fulfill their role. The tasks of virtual CISOs are typically the same. So, just like a full-time CISO, a vCISO’s responsibilities include:
These represent the most urgent GRC needs a growing company has. Virtual CISOs are perfectly suited to meeting them.
Sarah knew from the beginning that there was no room for compromise regarding the experience and expertise of the CISO she’d eventually hire. Since a vCISO can do everything a traditional CISO can, the additional cost savings and flexibility are tremendous benefits for her SME.
Benefits of Hiring a Virtual CISO
So, Sarah began to entertain the idea that hiring a virtual CISO might be worthwhile. But what other benefits might she consider, especially when choosing a virtual CISO over a full-time one?
Cost Efficiency Compared to Full-time CISOs
Hiring a full-time executive is not cheap. The median salary for traditional CISOs is $243,000 per year . That’s before benefits and doesn’t factor in paid training, additional overhead costs, and the months it will take to find the right cultural fit (among other things).
The average tenure of a full-time CISO is 26 months , so while one might assume executive positions are “long-term,” this doesn’t quite apply to CISOs. Once the CISO leaves, you have to factor in the additional months to find another CISO, and the cycle continues.
Flexibility and Scalability of Services
Businesses change and grow over time, meaning virtual CISOs can help adjust the level of service needed for Sarah’s startup. If the company continues to grow as fast as it has up until now, Sarah may need to scale her security efforts quickly, making a vCISO a much better fit, without the commitment of a full-time hire. This flexibility can accommodate Sarah’s business, and she’ll only have to pay for the services she needs. For example, she might start with a basic package and then expand the scope as needed. This might start with risk assessments (to find important vulnerabilities), developing security protocols (to ensure policies are created and implemented properly), and helping with vendor risk management (to manage critical third-party risks).
As Sarah’s business grows, so will her security needs. She could easily scale up the responsibilities of her vCISO with whom she now has an established relationship and functional knowledge of her business.
These more complex offerings might include incident response planning (to respond to an incident swiftly), advanced compliance management (to address GDPR compliance, for example, in high-stakes industries), and continuous threat monitoring (to implement ongoing threat detection). Different businesses may need to address different security concerns, but what makes vCISOs particularly valuable is their flexibility and ability to scale as necessary.
Long-Term Access to Top-Tier Expertise
Virtual CISOs are experienced individuals who come from a variety of security backgrounds. Smaller organizations can more affordably access this high-level expertise through a vCISO arrangement, plus find vCISO providers with experience in a specific industry.
Sarah knows she can focus on finding vCISOs with the exact experience of helping businesses like hers address the same security challenges she’s having. The right vCISO with the right experience can come in and know exactly where to start, and how to proceed, and might even have the templates and tools to help Sarah reach her security goals efficiently.
Good vCISOs go out of their way to ensure they build strong, truly long-term relationships. This makes vCISOs a better option for organizations that value continuity and want to avoid the costly turnover cycle accompanying hiring full-time CISOs.
Core Responsibilities of a Virtual CISO
Sarah knew that her smaller team would not be able to handle strategic and technical security responsibilities, so it was important for her to understand the ways that vCISOs could meet her startup’s needs:
Strategic Security Planning and Management
Virtual CISOs can help Sarah create a comprehensive cybersecurity program suited to her business objectives. As those needs and objectives change, vCISOs know exactly how to adapt the organization’s security measures accordingly.
Cybersecurity Compliance Program Management
Compliance is a moving target because threats and regulations are changing, making this area a significant challenge. Fortunately, vCISOs help to manage compliance programs so that someone like Sarah can be confident in her company’s ability to get and maintain compliance.
Plus, vCISOs can help keep Sarah informed about the latest industry trends and regulation changes, reducing the risk of costly fines, reputational damage, or other issues arising from lack of compliance.
Regular Cybersecurity Assessments and Audits
Cybersecurity is not set-and-forget. Designing, implementing, and maintaining the program are equally important tasks in cybersecurity. So, vCISOs would, for example, architect the program, implement it, and then create ways to check its effectiveness.
They do this proactively through regular assessments and audits, allowing them to address potential threats, risks, or vulnerabilities ahead of time.
Crisis Management and Incident Response
Sarah’s next task was to tackle preparing an incident response (IR) plan. IR plans require considerable attention to detail and must adequately address a significant range of possible events.
Incident response plans ensure each necessary procedure is carried out efficiently under the immense pressure of an unfolding attack. Plus, as cyber threats continue to evolve, IR plans must be updated to consider them.
One of the most valuable vCISO offerings is to help business owners like Sarah prepare incident response plans. In fact, good vCISOs know how to create comprehensive, step-by-step IR plans while guiding Sarah through the process.
Should something go wrong, the organization will know exactly what to do in response so she can react quickly and effectively. Plus, the vCISOs will step in, take ownership of the situation, and implement the incident response plan to contain and resolve the incident.
IR plans also outline post-incident procedures such as modifying the response plan, creating training based on the incident, and addressing any lingering issues to help the organization recover (and learn) from the incident as quickly as possible.
Tailoring Responsibilities and Adapting to Different Industries
Virtual CISOs experienced with a wide variety of industries are able to tailor their leadership to organizations of different sizes and industries .
SaaS Virtual CISOs
Nearly all SaaS companies rely on cloud infrastructure, which presents its own set of unique security challenges. Cloud environments need to be configured securely, with the right use of encryption and robust access controls.
SaaS businesses like Sarah’s work closely with their customers and tend to store and handle sensitive customer data . Protecting this customer data from breaches is a key component of SaaS security. They must also comply with relevant regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) if doing business in the EU or California respectively.
SaaS purchasers also expect their vendors to prove they have trustworthy cybersecurity through compliance standards such as SOC 2 or ISO 27001 . Virtual CISOs commonly guide organizations through SOC 2 compliance or ISO 27001 certification from start to finish. They’ll also help maintain continuous compliance for as long as they work with a given organization.
Fintech Virtual CISOs
The Financial Technology (Fintech) industry is heavily regulated. A vCISO can help Fintech companies navigate these regulations to avoid fines, legal issues, and other long-term damages.
Since many Fintech companies also rely on payment processing as a core function, vCISOs would help ensure that the payment systems are secure through multi-factor authentication, encryption, and tokenization. Fraud is another major threat in this sector, so vCISOs will help implement measures to detect possible fraudulent activity through monitoring transactions and other anomaly detection systems.
Life Sciences Virtual CISOs
Another strictly regulated sector, life sciences virtual CISOs help biotechnology, medical device, pharmaceutical, and healthcare companies to protect sensitive patient data and ensure that their products are safe.
Common regulations in this sector include the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA ) in the US and the GDPR in Europe. A vCISO can also help life sciences organizations protect their research data via strict access controls, encryption, and other measures.
Consulting Virtual CISOs
Consulting firms live and die on their good reputation and ability to protect their client data and maintain confidentiality. Since clients usually give these firms access to proprietary information, financial records, and strategic plans, this sensitive information must be protected through encryption and secure file sharing. A vCISO can also help by ensuring that internal and external communications are secure and that an effective third-party risk management program is in place.
Some consulting firms also offer their specialty software or design custom software for very specific customer needs. These services introduce additional security expectations, both in terms of customer-facing integrations and protecting the firm’s proprietary systems. A vCISO can prove valuable in creating controls that safeguard both sides of this specialty software, thereby upholding the firm’s reputation and establishing confidence in its customer base.
Two Major vCISO Challenges in 2025
To Sarah, the benefits of working with a vCISO for her startup were clear. Before proceeding, she needed to understand the potential challenges of hiring a vCISO in 2025 and what she could do to mitigate them.
Overcoming Communication Barriers
One such challenge that puts a vCISO at a slight disadvantage to their full-time counterparts is communication barriers. A traditional CISO would be heavily integrated and have a deep understanding of the organization, while a vCISO acts as an outside party. While this means they bring a fresh perspective, they simply won’t be as well-versed in the company’s challenges, objectives, and history. Therefore, Sarah must establish strong communication procedures to make sure everyone is on the same page and that her objectives and brand are communicated and understood.
Transparency and collaboration across parties and teams are crucial for success. So Sarah might implement regular meetings, easily accessible documents, and designated channels for ongoing updates throughout the process.
Ensuring Alignment with Corporate Culture and Values
For the same reasons, Sarah was concerned about effectively communicating her brand and company culture. So, she made it a point to clearly define its values, set expectations, and integrate the vCISO into the company. After all, the vCISO must focus on helping Sarah achieve her business goals in a way that aligns with her company’s mission and values.
Conclusion: Is a Virtual CISO Right for Your Business?
In the end, Sarah’s decision to hire a virtual CISO was strategic for her SaaS startup. Not only would working with a vCISO be more cost-effective, but it would also offer her the flexibility to scale and access top-tier expertise applied via advanced tools she wouldn’t otherwise have access to.
Depending on your industry , company size, and the complexity of your business needs, a vCISO might be right for you, as well, especially if you’re not ready to spend the time and resources to hire a full-time CISO.
Decision-Making Factors for SMEs and Large Enterprises
While larger companies are usually better equipped to hire a traditional CISO, it still might be better to work with a vCISO. It will depend on the organization and its goals. Since full-time CISOs are embedded, they would be better for very complex infrastructures, so that’s something to keep in mind. However, vCISOs offer large enterprises the ability to scale and can bring a fresh perspective or specialized knowledge.
Next Steps to Engage a Virtual CISO
Once Sarah decides to hire a virtual CISO, the next step is to start researching potential firms or individuals. Ideally, she’ll look for someone with experience in the SaaS industry, a proven track record of solving complex security challenges, and the necessary technical skills. At the same time, she’ll use her communication protocol and make sure the vCISO is a good fit as far as culture and values.
After she chooses her preferred vCISO, Sarah will establish a clear contract that outlines the scope, responsibilities, protocols, and performance indicators to track progress. By setting clear expectations in the beginning, they can build a strong working relationship and keep regular contact to ensure company objectives are being met through tailored security measures. This gives Sarah the confidence that the business she’s worked so hard to build is being proactively protected on every front, thanks to the capable hands of her vCISO.If you’re considering hiring a vCISO for your business, consider us here at Fractional CISO. As opposed to typical vCISO firms, we provide two-person cybersecurity teams consisting of an experienced virtual CISO and a skilled cybersecurity analyst . Plus, they are backstopped by the entire Fractional CISO organization for additional work depending on the specialized services you need. Whether you’re just starting to think about choosing a vCISO or you’re ready to find the best one for your business, please reach out to us today , and we’ll see if we can help you reach your security goals.
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