July 2023 - Cynomi

Riding the vCISO Wave: How to Provide vCISO Services with Cynomi

Virtual CISO services are in demand like never before. According to Gartner, adoption rates are soaring, from a mere 1% in 2021 to a substantial 20% by 2022, across SMBs and non-regulated enterprises. How can MSPs and MSSPs capitalize on this opportunity?

In this blog post, we delve into the roles and responsibilities of the vCISO, discuss how you can expand your offering to include vCISO services and explain why the route to being a vCISO is shorter than you might think!

This blog post is based on the webinar we held with Dr. Jerry Craig, a CISO and Senior Director of Security at Ntiva, and Dr. David Primor, founder and CEO of Cynomi. You can gain more insights and information on the topic by watching the webinar on demand.

What is a vCISO?

A vCISO, also known as a Virtual CISO, CISO as a Service, or Fractional CISO, is an external professional security expert that provides strategic and hands-on security services to organizations. In this way, small businesses can access high-level cybersecurity expertise without incurring full-time expenses.

There are varying definitions of the vCISO role. These differences stem from unique organizational requirements, varying standards across industries and diverse organizational cultural approaches. However, there are underlying commonalities that all organizations acknowledge are part of the vCISO role. These include:

Understanding goals and risks
Creating the security strategy
Assessing cybersecurity gaps
Understanding the strategic vulnerabilities
Implementing a remediation plan
Overseeing compliance processes
Reporting to top management

Recommended Components of vCISO Services

Based on these responsibilities, there are hundreds of areas where vCISOs can serve and add value. While the vCISO offering should be tailored to each organization’s specific need (see more on this topic below), there are recurring themes that should always be addressed. These are:

Risk assessment and management – Quantifying risk and building a risk program.
Setting the strategy – Setting goals, building a plan and roadmap, aligning with the IT department, budget, etc.
Actual protection – Services, processes and procedures that make the environment, people and data more secure.
Continuity planning – How to keep the business up and running during an event.
Training and security awareness – Teaching employees how to detect and prevent attacks like phishing.
Compliance and governance – Meeting the industry requirements.
Incident response – What to do when attacked and services go down, how to eradicate and remediate.
Third-party management – How to work with vendors, partners and providers.
Communication – Communicating up, down and across, to show value and ROI.

Any MSP or MSSP that wants to expand into offering vCISO services should take these components into consideration when creating their service offer and portfolio for their customers.

Why vCISO Services are an Opportunity for MSPs and MSSPs

We’ve established what a vCISO offering includes. This begs the question: why should MSPs and MSSPs make the effort to expand their offering and include vCISO services?

With the growing demand for security services, a vCISO offering is an attractive opportunity for MSPs and MSSPs to grow their business. By providing vCISO services, MSPs and MSSPs can:

Address the growing customer need for proactive cyber resilience
Grow recurring revenue, for existing and new customers
Differentiate themselves from the competition
Upsell additional products and services
Provide a lucrative offering
Maintain continuous communications with their customers’ top management

Challenges with Providing vCISO Services

When MSPs and MSSPs plan their vCISO offer, it’s important to understand the potential pitfalls along the way, so they can address them. There are four main pillars to take into consideration:

Upfront investment – How will you educate yourself on the vCISO components? Will you hire an expert, use a platform, etc.?
Structuring your vCISO offering – Which components and services will you offer your client base?
Skills – Do you have the in-house skills? Will you hire someone, use a vCISO platform, etc.?
Scalability – How will you grow and increase revenue? Will you expand your headcount, implement automation, etc.?

How to Build Your vCISO Offering

Many MSPs and MSSPs are already offering some form of a vCISO offering and can easily expand it to a full-blown vCISO service.

The first step to take is to find out whether you are already offering vCISO services. Ask yourself:

Do you manage customers’ security?
Do you offer risk assessment or manage risk over time?
Do you support customers with compliance readiness?
Do you set a security strategy or write internal security policies?
Do you generate remediation plans?
Do you generate incident response plans?
Do you offer security awareness and training?
Do you communicate the security status to your customers’ management?

If you answered “yes” to four or more of these questions, you can most likely bundle the offering as a vCISO package. Surprisingly, you might be closer to a vCISO offering than you might think.

The Missing Piece of the vCISO Offer: An Automated vCISO Platform

Since organizations need end-to-end services, MSPs and MSSPs have to find a way to complement their offering to include all the components listed above. This is where an automated vCISO platform comes in. An automated vCISO platform that can help answer the challenges above, and even pile on more benefits:

Upfront investment – An automated platform provides you with the knowledge you need to lead the security strategic efforts of the organization without hiring expensive cybersecurity experts. Assuming you use a SaaS platform, you pay on the go with no upfront investment.
Structuring your vCISO offering – An automated platform streamlines the vCISO work through a well-structured process – starting from risk and compliance assessment, through creating a security policy, cyber posture reporting and all the way to building remediation plans. It takes less experienced teams step by step throughout the process and sets standards for processes and deliverables.
Skills – A vCISO automated platform is modeled on the knowledge of the world’s best CISOs and security experts. Instead of bringing those people in (which most MSPs and MSSPs can’t afford to), an automated platform provides their expertise at the users’ fingertips.
Scalability – An automated platform can easily and cost-effectively help you scale. It doesn’t require any sleep time or salaries and can be used on-demand. As Stephen Parsons, CEO, VISO said: “Using a vCISO platform we use the same resources to provide the service to more customers”.
In addition, an automated platform can help you present data and metrics to customers and customize a program to each organization’s specific needs.

Conclusion

vCISO services offer MSPs and MSSPs the opportunity for business growth, enhanced customer satisfaction, and differentiation from competitors. By incorporating vCISO elements into their service offerings, MSPs and MSSPs can provide a comprehensive and valuable package to their clients. An automated vCISO platform is positioned to help MSPs and MSSPs extend their service portfolio and provide clients with a broad range of security expertise and solutions. Therefore, it is recommended to implement an automated vCISO platform when offering vCISO services to customers.

To learn more and get more insightful observations about a vCISO offering, watch the webinar here.

Top IT Security Policies to Implement: Cybersecurity Awareness

Building a cybersecurity awareness program and outlining related policies is an essential function of the CISO or vCISO role. This endeavor is generally time-consuming, particularly as each organization requires its unique policies, tailored to its structure, cybersecurity needs, regulatory obligations, and risk tolerance.

Humans are often the weakest link when it comes to cybersecurity. In fact, as of the 2023 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, 74% of breaches involved the human element, which includes social engineering attacks, errors or misuse. This emphasizes the importance of employee awareness training in the overall cybersecurity strategy of any organization.

In this post, we will discuss the importance of having a comprehensive cybersecurity awareness policy, outline the main controls to be included in this policy and share some real-life tips from experienced vCISOs.

Why Is This Policy Important?

The importance of a cybersecurity awareness policy cannot be overstated. It is crucial for minimizing human error, one of the leading causes of data breaches, by educating employees on the risks and how to avoid common missteps, such as falling for phishing scams or downloading malicious software. The dynamic nature of cyber threats makes regularly updated cybersecurity awareness training essential in helping employees stay abreast of new attack types and cybercriminal tactics.

Moreover, a well-implemented policy ensures compliance with industry-specific legal and regulatory requirements for cybersecurity awareness training, thereby avoiding potentially significant fines and penalties.

Lastly, a cybersecurity awareness policy promotes a culture of security within an organization, fostering an environment where everyone understands their role in protecting the company’s data and systems. Thus, a cybersecurity awareness policy is a critical element in the overall security posture of an organization, significantly aiding in deterring and responding to the ever-growing and evolving landscape of cyber threats.

The Attacks This Policy Help Protect Against

A comprehensive cybersecurity awareness policy helps safeguard an organization against various attack types, including social engineering, phishing and spear phishing attacks where attackers masquerade as trusted entities to trick individuals into sharing sensitive information. It also helps protect from malware attacks, including ransomware, which involve harmful software potentially causing significant damage.

A strong awareness policy also defends against password cracking attempts, unintentional malicious software downloads, and intercepted communications by cybercriminals. By educating employees on how to identify and respond appropriately to these threats, a cybersecurity awareness policy significantly enhances an organization’s overall cybersecurity posture.

The Scope of This Policy

The cybersecurity awareness policy should be enforced for all those who have a user account in the company, including all employees, managers, senior executives, third parties, and contractors.

Top Controls in This Policy

The controls listed below are the foundational components of a cybersecurity awareness policy. By following them, you can improve your security:

Regular Cybersecurity Awareness Training: This is essential to keep all employees up-to-date on the latest threats, safe online practices, and company policies. As part of the training, ensure all employees are aware and have signed the company cybersecurity policy.
Why?
Regular awareness training keeps employees updated on constantly evolving threats and reinforces essential security practices, thus reducing the risk of human error, a leading cause of cyber incidents. It empowers individuals to actively protect the organization’s digital assets and fosters a culture of security within an organization.
Attack Simulation Exercises: These allow employees to recognize phishing attempts and understand the correct actions to take.
Why?
Attack simulation exercises, such as phishing simulations, provide a practical, hands-on experience for employees to apply their knowledge in a safe environment, enhancing their ability to detect and respond to real cyber threats. These exercises also enable organizations to assess the effectiveness of their training programs and identify areas where additional training may be needed.
Incident Reporting Training: Educate all employees on the process of reporting potential security incidents or risks and educate all employees on this process.
Why?
Incident reporting encourages employees to actively participate in the organization’s cybersecurity efforts, aiding in the early detection and mitigation of potential threats. Moreover, analyzing these reports provides valuable insights for refining the training program and improving overall security posture.
Password Usage Education: Teach the importance of strong, unique passwords and the use of password management tools.
Why?
Creating strong, unique passwords is a fundamental defense against unauthorized access and data breaches. Ensuring employees are aware of that enhances the organizations’ security. Additionally, it promotes the use of password management tools and multi-factor authentication, further enhancing the security of user accounts and protecting the organization’s digital assets.
Awareness of the importance of updating and patching: Training employees on the importance of regularly updating and patching their devices to protect against vulnerabilities.
Why?
Updating and patching helps protect against vulnerabilities and cyber attacks that exploit outdated software, typically used by cybercriminals to compromise the organization’s endpoints, network and data. By emphasizing the importance of updating and patching, employees understand their role in maintaining up-to-date systems, thereby contributing to the organization’s overall cybersecurity resilience.
Secure Internet Usage: Guidelines on safe browsing habits, such as avoiding suspicious links or websites, can significantly reduce risks.
Why?
This is a vital part of security awareness training because it equips employees with knowledge about safe browsing habits, reducing the risk of malware infection and data breaches.
Data Protection Awareness: Training on handling sensitive data, complying with data protection laws, and understanding the implications of data breaches.
Why?
Educating employees on the appropriate handling of sensitive data reduces the likelihood of inadvertent data breaches. Furthermore, it ensures that staff understand and comply with data protection laws and regulations, preventing potential legal repercussions and maintaining the organization’s reputation.
Role-based cybersecurity awareness: Enforcing role-based cybersecurity awareness is mandatory for all high-profile roles, and, where relevant, contractors. Conduct cybersecurity awareness training for the company management as well as users with administrative access to company access.
Why?
Given the diverse system access and privileges that various employees possess, it’s essential to offer customized cybersecurity training that corresponds to each role’s specific job functions, effectively addressing the distinct threats and vulnerabilities they may face. This targeted approach not only improves the effectiveness of the training but also encourages employees to assume accountability for the security implications inherent to their individual roles.

By incorporating these controls, a cybersecurity awareness policy can effectively manage the human factor in cybersecurity, thereby strengthening the overall security posture of an organization.

3 CISO Takeaways

Prioritize customized training: role-based cybersecurity awareness training is highly important. By tailoring the training to the specific roles and access privileges of employees, the relevancy of the information increases, leading to better comprehension, engagement and practical application.
Focus on key stakeholders: Invest in educating executive and leadership teams on why and how they should be engaged in cybersecurity governance and risk management. Without their support your cybersecurity program will never succeed.
Ensure effectiveness through continuous assessment: Use simulated attack exercises and other tools or processes to regularly evaluate the effectiveness of the organization’s cybersecurity awareness program. This will provide insights into areas needing improvement.

The controls and practices detailed in this blog post can help you protect your organizational systems and resources. Since cybersecurity is not a “one size fits all” play, we highly recommend consulting with your CISO, virtual CISO, MSSP or cybersecurity consultant before jumping into implementing the suggested controls. To get a full Cybersecurity Awareness Security policy tailored to the needs of your specific business, you are welcome to try Cynomi’s vCISO Platform.

Month: July 2023

Riding the vCISO Wave: How to Provide vCISO Services