You may be wondering what the ROI rate of hiring a full-time CISO and virtual CISO is. This is the most important question for companies that are in their first stages of development and seek to have efficient data security services. Calculating ROI demonstrates the amount of risk reduction ratio to the total spending in a security program. Using virtual CISO services, ROI rates are guaranteed as long as you will get managed data security programs and pay-as-you-go services.
Data Security is a Critical Aspect of Any Organization
Data security is a key element in business development and customer retention. Businesses of all sizes need to create a data security program in order to safeguard their sensitive data and information. Data security offered by virtual CISO services is the process of protecting organizational data from unauthorized access, and it includes all of the different cybersecurity practices used for securing your data from misuse.
Data security matters because a minor data breach can have serious losses for your organization. First and foremost, the financial impacts of data threats are important, but there will be many other aspects, like brand damage.
Customers usually lose faith and trust when your organization is impacted by a data security threat. The actual effect of a data loss cannot be calculated since it has short-term and long-term impacts, and you will notice its effects on your business success and continuity.
A virtual CISO tends to solve data security threats in your organization in three main parts:
● Data security: Data security refers to protecting your sensitive and high-risk data against unauthorized access. These threats include data exposure, deletion, and corruption. Virtual CISO services focus on reducing the risks and probability of data breaches, and professional CISOs will help your organization prevent hackers from accessing your sensitive data.
● Data protection: Data protection typically refers to creating backups or duplications of data to protect it against accidental or intentional data erasure or loss. When you create a data backup plan, it will help you restore the data and recover easily in case of data corruption or data loss.
● Data privacy: Data privacy plans aim at lowering the risks of data handling, and data processing and data privacy policies are the most effective tools to explain how an organization handles and processes customers’ data and how it is stored in your storage. Having trustworthy data privacy policies is an essential part of deploying the required regulations in an organization.
What Does a Virtual CISO Do?
A virtual CISO is an assigned role with a wealth of experience that can assist your company in developing data security programs and deploying the required regulatory rules in your company. A virtual CISO is a part-time practitioner or data security program provider who can work remotely and offer managed security programs to an organization.
A vCISO is an effective role for companies that want to put data security controls into practice but cannot hire full-time and in-house CISOs. vCISOs are available professionals on demand, and these services are provided typically without any training or additional costs required for training employees. Note that these professionals can jump into their work from day one, and there is no need to waste time on collecting a professional team and spending much money on training team members.
Virtual CISOs consider a lot of requirements and limitations when a security program is included in the future plans to be deployed in a company. To find out more about important responsibilities of a virtual CISO, read the following essential points:
● Creating, developing, and implementing data security policies and procedures
● Performing the necessary risk analyses and assessments
● Providing security training and regulatory awareness for new employees
● Monitoring the overall cybersecurity program and data security posture in your organization
When Do I Need a Virtual CISO?
Virtual CISO services provide your company with reliable data security and protection programs, and they promise to reform your data security posture to benefit from regulatory laws and their requirements.
Many companies may fall into error and ignore using CISO services. Here are some of the misconceptions saying you don’t need a virtual CISO or a full-time and in-house CISO for your organization:
● We are a small company, so we are not a target
● We don’t have valuable information and data
● We can’t afford to pay for a full-time or part-time CISO
Remember that these misconceptions can lead to disastrous problems. Whether you are a small business with 10 employees or you are an enterprise with more than 500 employees, virtual CISO services can help you prevent future issues related to data security and protection.
When there are issues with data protection in your company, it is a signal that you need immediate vCISO services. If you want to modify or change your cybersecurity program, virtual CISOs are the best choices, and they will provide you with instant solutions. They are experienced professionals and offer low-risk solutions at managed prices.
● Having a lot of data that must be protected is an indicator telling you to need immediate CISO services. Providing reliable data protection and recovery plans is one of the best services offered by virtual CISOs, and they can give you resultful strategies to eliminate the related risks based on experience and expertise.
How vCISO Helps with Budgetary Constraints
One of the primary vCISO roles is to protect your business with managed and affordable data security plans. The major part of providing such services is their experience and expertise that contribute to developing the most effective and efficient data security programs for your company.
Virtual CISO services evaluate all the requirements and priorities in your organization to work on developing the most effective and affordable plan. So, you can make sure your budget will be spent exactly on valuable and helpful data security programs.
You only need to tell your vCISO how much budget you are going to spend on a specific program and which regulatory rules and considerations are necessary for your organization.
The Financial Advantages of vCISO Services Compared to Traditional CISO
Small to medium-sized companies may have a lot of financial limitations preventing them from using modern data security tools and technologies. Virtual CISOs help your company in several steps as below, making it available to make the most of the cybersecurity spending:
● Assigning the best talent to the required roles: A virtual CISO is an experienced professional who has at least 15 years of hands-on experience dealing with data security threats and providing working solutions for small and large organizations. So, these professionals know exactly who is the best fit for data security roles.
● Rapid program deployment: Launching a data security and protection program in a few days is one of the best benefits of vCISO services. It will take much time if you want to establish your in-house team and hire a full-time CISO. Creating a professional team is troublesome for small or medium-sized companies, but these businesses can greatly benefit from rapid data security and threat assessment programs offered by virtual CISO services.
● Dynamic monitoring: Dynamic and always-on monitoring help your cybersecurity team be informed about all activities and network traffic in your organization. There is a wide range of monitoring tools that empower our team to thoroughly analyze the activities over time and report suspicious traffic for more detailed checks.
● Reducing management costs and employment costs: When using a vCISO service, you have access to a full package of data security programs provided by proficient managers and cybersecurity team members. This means you don’t need to pay extra fees for hiring or training the workforce.
Virtual CISO Cost Benchmarking
The cost of a virtual CISO depends on many factors, and the nature of your company can significantly affect this. One primary factor in determining the cost of implementing vCISO services is the market you’re working in and the regulatory rules required for that specific market.
Remember that a wide range of services is provided by virtual CISOs, and it depends on your needs and requirements to choose between these services. For sure, cybersecurity costs will go high based on the complexity of the security program you need to implement in your organization.
The cost of using vCISO services varies depending on the following factors. You can contact our team now to provide you with complete recommendations:
● Your current cybersecurity program: The maturity level of your current cybersecurity program can affect the costs. Startups and newly-founded companies will need more time to deploy a complete cybersecurity program, and there is a need to perform everything from scratch.
● Monthly time and workload needed: We can’t give an exact answer to the question “how much time is needed to implement a security program in an organization?” because it depends! It’s a true fact that the amount of time and workload, in this case, directly determines the related costs. So, time is a determining factor when your virtual CISO wants to evaluate the costs of services.
● Data security expertise required: One great benefit of working with vCISOs is that you will access the best talent in the cybersecurity industry and benefit from the latest technologies and data security programs. The expertise level and the type of technologies required for your organization can directly impact the cost of implementing vCISO services in your organization.
● Your industry type: Regulations are different from one industry to another, and this can affect the time and effort to deploy the required program in your organization that completely matches a specific regulatory rule. Highlighting the fact, that the regulatory requirements can be different in each of the e-commerce, manufacturing, logistics, and gaming industries.
Costs of Virtual CISO Services vs Benefits
Without any doubt, the cost of virtual CISO services is more managed compared to conventional cybersecurity services. This is a remarkable benefit that makes virtual CISO one of the most popular options for small and medium-sized companies and startups.
Along with providing unique data security programs as a competitive advantage over outsourced cybersecurity services, they offer tried and true programs. Responding to cyber threats and attacks rapidly is another gain you will have after assigning a virtual CISO to your cybersecurity tasks.
● Asserting trustworthy security: Proven data security refers to having reliable programs and practices. Trustworthiness comes when a security program is completely adapted to the regulatory requirements and matched with your objectives.
● Technology advances: Adopting new technologies and integrating the latest cybersecurity programs into your company can take much time and effort. An in-house team needs the training to be able to implement new practices and techniques for data security and protection. Virtual CISOs are responsible for hiring team members who are trained and certified. Therefore, you will get ready-to-use services empowered by top-notch technologies.
● Value creation: Value creation requires investment, and vCISOs promise to add value to your organization by taking stable steps. It goes without saying that investing in cybersecurity programs can significantly contribute to preventing cyber threats. As a result, you can save on costs incurred by cyber attacks.
Costs of Employing a Virtual CISO vs Hiring a Full-time CISO
All things considered, there is no significant difference between the final work quality of a virtual CISO and a full-time CISO. If everything is well-organized and put in the right place, you will get similar service quality both when working with a virtual CISO and a full-time CISO.
The main difference in this case, which is a determining factor between these 2 options, is that virtual CISOs fundamentally reduce unnecessary expenses and take a key role in increasing your revenue accordingly. Keep in mind that you will never pay for unnecessary roles and equipment, and there are no useless requirements, equipment, or cybersecurity programs that increase the related expenses.
Calculating Your Cyberdefense ROI
Calculating the cyber defense ROI rate cannot be so simple, especially when there is no defined and detailed security program in your organization. Cyberdefense ROI is used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or to compare the final result of different investments.
Cybersecurity experts can greatly benefit from the ROI rate to calculate how their security programs create value and how much they will need to invest in future programs. A high ROI value shows that the investment’s gains are at a good level, and the expenses will be turned into value.
CISOs can understand an investment must be modified, increased, or decreased based on the ROI rate, and it provides good insight into how a cybersecurity program is performing.
Cybersecurity experts calculate the ROI rate in three main ways as below to check the quality and quantity of a cybersecurity program:
● Annual rate of occurrence: The annual rate of occurrence method considers the frequency and expectancy of cyber threats that can impact an organization yearly. This is a straightforward method to find out how a specific type of cyber threat hits an organization. As a result, experts can realize if there is a need for future modifications or not.
● Single loss expectancy: Single loss expectancy is used to calculate the amount of loss for an incident, and this approach is a trustworthy solution to have useful information about cyber threats based on the current digital assets.
● Annual loss expectancy: ALE is a great approach to calculating the return on investment since it combines the features of other formulas. ALE is based on the total annual monetary loss per year that results from a specific type of cyber incident. Based on this approach, your virtual CISO can provide valuable information about your cybersecurity programs and your organization’s security posture numerically.
Virtual CISO Pricing
One of the key benefits every vCISO offers is the flexibility of services provided to small and large organizations. In general, virtual CISO services are more flexible, affordable, and varied. Remember that these features directly impact reducing the costs because you will only pay for the needed security program and data protection service.
Requesting virtual CISO services means you will have a full package of managed data security programs which are specifically designed based on your company’s requirements.
Imagine you could have a saving of up to 70% in your organization in cybersecurity programs. Virtual CISOs can simply bring this advantage to your organization and reform your cybersecurity posture by taking the following steps inherently:
● Training employees and teaching them the best practices and cybersecurity programs
● Providing the best talent and a professional team of experts
● Giving rapid response to cyber incidents and cyber attacks
● Implementing the best technologies and integrating trustworthy equipment in your company
A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins With a Single Step
Expertise and experience! These are the main features of virtual CISO services that bring peace of mind and convenience to your company. If you are looking for reliable data security and protection programs, Nordic Defender can help you with this.
● Once you have contacted one of our cybersecurity experts, they will analyze your case and provide you with a transparent roadmap. You will tell us about your data security objectives, and this is our responsibility to make it real. Please feel free to contact us and let us help you achieve your business goals as a part of your IT team.
Final Words
Cybersecurity advisory services can provide you with the best roadmap at the first step. When you want to start a cybersecurity program in your organization, these types of virtual CISO services will help you find out the best program based on your goals and the amount of time and budget needed to deploy that specific program.
● Nordic Defender’s highly experienced professionals will give you complete recommendations on this, and they are ready to take the necessary steps to protect your organization against cyber threats.