What Is a Virtual Chief Information Security Officer (vCISO) and When Should You Hire One?

A Virtual Chief Information Security Officer (vCISO) is an outsourced security leader who helps you build and run a security program. They provide strategy, prioritization, and execution guidance without the need to hire a full-time CISO.

If security decisions keep getting made reactively (after an incident, a questionnaire, or a customer escalation), a vCISO is how you shift to a planned, risk-based approach.

Learn more about our approach here: Virtual CISO (vCISO)

What a vCISO actually does

A vCISO’s job is to keep your security work focused on what reduces risk most, fastest.

That usually includes:

• Setting security priorities and a realistic roadmap
• Defining controls and standards (access, devices, cloud, logging, IR)
• Helping you prepare for customer security reviews and procurement
• Overseeing assessments and remediation (TRA, pen tests)
• Improving incident response readiness and decision-making

When should you hire a vCISO?

A vCISO is a strong fit when:

• You’re growing quickly and your security posture hasn’t caught up
• Enterprise customers want proof (questionnaires, policies, security reviews)
• You’ve had incidents, near-misses, or recurring security fire drills
• Your infrastructure is evolving (cloud migration, SSO, new vendors)
• You need strategic security leadership, but a full-time CISO is too early

vCISO vs. penetration testing

Pen testing is important but it’s not leadership.

• A pen test finds exploitable issues at a point in time
• A vCISO ensures you fix the right issues, build durable controls, and reduce repeat problems

If you’re ready to test, start here: Penetration Testing

vCISO vs. TRA (Threat and Risk Assessment)

These also work together:

• A TRA helps you identify and prioritize threats and risks for your environment
• A vCISO ensures the findings turn into a roadmap your team actually executes

If you need the assessment itself: Threat and Risk Assessment (TRA)

What you should get from a vCISO engagement

A strong engagement usually produces:

• A prioritized security roadmap (30/60/90 days and beyond)
• Policies and standards that match your real stack and team size
• Improvements to access control (MFA, least privilege, offboarding)
• Monitoring and incident response readiness
• Vendor security rules and repeatable procurement answers

If you need program foundations first, start with: Minimum Viable Privacy (MVP)

vCISO vs. VPO: which one do you need?

Many teams need both eventually. If you’re choosing:

• Go vCISO if your primary risk is technical security exposure and you need security leadership
• Go vPO if your primary risk is privacy governance and compliance expectations

You can review the privacy leadership path here: Virtual Privacy Officer (vPO)

Ready to stop guessing and start running security like a program?

Start here: Book a call

‍