VIRTUAL CISO (vCISO)

Developing a highly versatile security strategy

A Virtual Chief Information Security Officer (vCISO) is a way in which many organisations adapt to rapidly evolving cyber risks. Dionach’s offering in this area gives you access to an industry leading panel of experts, with extensive directorate experience, to confidently lead your organisation forwards in the information age.

Dionach’s vCISO service focuses on developing a highly versatile security strategy for our clients, but we can also be brought in to assist with existing strategy implementation and to tackle specific issues and concerns. Dionach’s world-leading vCISO service can introduce best practices, implement compliance standards to certification level and respond rapidly to incidents.

Challenges Addressed

Global Cyber security Skills Shortage

More than 50% of organisations have been impacted by the cyber security skills crisis. This extends from initial recruitment right through to retention and staff burnout. More than 76% of organisations have found it difficult to hire cyber security staff and being offered a higher compensation package was cited as the main reason (33%) CISOs leave their current organisation for another. Engaging a vCISO can rapidly relieve workload pressures for your business, allowing you to ensure your wider teams are well supported.

Myopic Decision Making

Engaging a vCISO mitigates the risk of myopic decision making. Your organisation will benefit from access to a consortium of information security professionals, spanning technical specialisms, qualifications and industry specific experiences you wouldn’t be able to find in a single individual. Our collaborative and consultative approach can offer external perspectives which a single individual may not have considered, or even have capacity to address.

Myopic Decision Making

Engaging a vCISO mitigates the risk of myopic decision making. Your organisation will benefit from access to a consortium of information security professionals, spanning technical specialisms, qualifications and industry specific experiences you wouldn’t be able to find in a single individual. Our collaborative and consultative approach can offer external perspectives which a single individual may not have considered, or even have capacity to address.

Budget Constraints

Employing a full-time CISO can be costly, and the compensation packages expected are continuing to rise year on year. That is not to diminish how essential and worthwhile a full-time CISO is to your organisation, but to rather highlight how vCISO can offer a wealth of benefits. These include providing cover for parental leave and bridging the gap between replacement hires, long-term illness or secondments.

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6 Benefits of Virtual CISO Service for Your Business

Access seasoned cyber security leadership and strategic guidance without the expense of hiring a full-time CISO.
Receive a customised cyber security roadmap aligned with your business goals, risk profile, and compliance needs.
Ensure your organisation meets evolving regulations and industry standards with expert advice on governance and risk management.

Proactively identify vulnerabilities, manage risks, and develop robust incident response plans to minimise impact from cyber threats.
Adapt cyber security leadership support to your company’s changing needs, whether scaling up or down as your business evolves.
Strengthen your overall cyber security program with continuous oversight, expert insights, and best practice implementation.

What We Do

Dionach have been partnering with clients for over 25 years to help them achieve Information Security compliance across a wide range of security certifications and regulations including one of our core focus areas, ISO 27001. Some key steps we can work with you on include:

Cyber Security Strategy

Dionach can work closely with your organisation’s leadership to develop a comprehensive cyber security strategy that aligns with your business objectives and risk tolerance.

Risk Management

Dionach can assist in assessing and managing cyber security risks by conducting risk assessments, vulnerability assessments, and penetration testing.

Compliance and Regulatory Support

Dionach can provide guidance to ensure that your organisation complies with relevant industry regulations and standards such as PCI DSS, or ISO 27001.

Incident Response Planning

Dionach can help your organisation develop an incident response plan to handle security incidents effectively. We can assist in establishing protocols, defining roles and responsibilities, and conducting tabletop exercises to test the response capability.

Security Awareness and Training

Dionach can support your organisation in creating a culture of security awareness by designing and delivering training programs. We can educate employees about best practices, social engineering threats, and other relevant security topics.

Security Audits and Assessments

Dionach can conduct security audits and assessments to evaluate the effectiveness of an organisation’s security controls, identify vulnerabilities, and provide recommendations for improvement.

How We Work

We deliver the whole spectrum of cyber security services, from long-term, enterprise wide strategy and implementation projects to single penetration tests.

Our team works with you to identify and assess your organisation’s vulnerabilities, deﬁne enterprise-wide goals, and advise how best to achieve them.

Our recommendations are clear, concise, pragmatic and tailored to your organisation.

Independent, unbiased, personalised – this is how we define our services. We guide you to spend wisely and invest in change efficiently.

Our recommendations are clear, concise, pragmatic and tailored to your organisation.

Independent, unbiased, personalised – this is how we define our services. We guide you to spend wisely and invest in change efficiently.

Client Reviews

The vCISO service has provided us with the strategic direction we needed to enhance our information security program. Dionach’s vCISO understood our industry’s unique challenges and helped us achieve compliance with relevant regulations. Their proactive approach to risk management and incident response planning has greatly improved our cybersecurity posture.

CIO - Finance Industry

Dionach’s virtual CISO service has been instrumental in bridging the gap in our cybersecurity capabilities. Their vCISO brought extensive knowledge and experience, enabling us to implement robust security controls and improve our overall security posture. The vCISO team’s availability and responsiveness have been impressive, providing us with timely guidance whenever we needed it.

IT Manager - Retail

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