vCISO

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In today’s economy, data is literally as valuable as gold. And on that note, consider the example of a jewelry store.

Perhaps this jewelry store won’t be robbed. But it’s a real—and disastrous—possibility. What might the owners of this store do to protect themselves? They would likely install a security system with cameras, contract out for bonded and armed guards, purchase insurance that met or exceeded industry best practices, and many other measures.

It’s clear in this example that strong preventive measures deter would-be criminals and establish compliance with insurers. Cybersecurity may still be developing as a risk management discipline, but while preventive measures are not explicitly required, it’s clear that the cost savings of not protecting yourself simply can’t offset the risk of being victimized.

Consider that in the jeweler’s example, there are designers and wholesalers making deals with that business owner to sell their pieces at that store. Don’t you think they’d rather do business with someone who has secured their store and put the necessary measures in place to protect all of their investments?

This is exactly why your business needs to be protected. It’s not a matter of “if” your small business will be targeted at this point, but more a question of “when?”

And more importantly, as the threat of hacking looms larger in all our minds, your security posture determines whether or not others will risk doing business with you. If you’re still reading, you’re not the type to risk everything just to save a few dollars.

Every business that uses the internet risks a catastrophic data breach. Studies have found that 60% of Small to Mid-size Businesses (SMB) go out of business after a cyber breach.

Cybersecurity is more critical than ever—and yet only 14% of SMBs businesses are prepared for an online attack. Nearly half of all businesses hacked are small businesses.

It costs an average $200,000 now to recover from a data breach. Can your business survive this? It would be better not to find out. So what can be done about it?

How does one protect what you’ve built when small business are more frequently the Focus of hacks every day?

Enter Digital Beachhead and our Virtual CISO/CIO/CTO service
What is a "Virtual" CISO/CIO/CTO?

Many SMBs have outsourced administrative and financial services such as HR, Bookkeeping and Accounting. Within Accounting CPA's and Virtual CFO's have become the norm. What about your Information Technology (IT)? Have you outsourced IT to a Managed Service Provider (MSP)? While an organization's services and duties can be outsourced to save valuable time and resources the vision and strategic plan for the SMB remains. Much as you have bookkeeping and accounting outsourced for the day to day requirements a CPA and/or vCFO helps organizations with their strategic vision and provided crucial guidance to business owners. Most MSPs are excellent at providing IT services to include some cybersecurity elements but they shouldn't set your cyber policies, they should instead enforce them.

That’s where our team can help businesses like yours with our Virtual Chief Information / Chief Technology / Chief Information Security Officer service (vCIO, vCTO, vCISO) which we simply call our vCISO service as we believe "Security" should always be considered regardless of the IT C-Level naming convention. Digital Beachhead provides a team of experts that are responsible for defining and enforcing that organization’s cybersecurity policies, practices, and architecture. vCISO duties can impact every process in an organization in some way—from the way employees use their emails, to which websites they can visit, to how they store important documents. As Cybersecurity risk exposure increases, so do both the government regulations requiring your data to be secure and the customer demands of data privacy. It is imperative now, more than ever to take Cybersecurity seriously. This may seem abstract, but the benefits of proactive cybersecurity measures—and the costs they prevent—are as real as physical security.

Digital Beachhead

Certified Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB)

The Benefits of a Virtual CISO

Any organization would benefit from a high-level Cybersecurity expert. The Digital Beachhead vCISO service manages critical cybersecurity functions and maintains regulatory compliance while sparing the full-time, physical presence and expense of a traditional CISO.

Our expert vCISO team is ready to oversee your Cybersecurity infrastructure; liaise between your IT team, procurement staff, and senior management; write and integrate network policies, and provide detailed cost and schedule reporting for user compliance. Just as many businesses already outsource core specialist functions from human resources to marketing, Cybersecurity is the next frontier for leveraging expertise and transferring risk.

An outsourced vCISO provides three key benefits for a small business:

Greater expertise. Even the best traditional CISO is only one person, seeing one organization. The vCISO curates the expertise of a full team of experienced Cybersecurity professionals, across diverse projects, and aligns their technical approach with your organization’s key activities and needs.
Radically lower cost. Top information security talent demands (and deserves) a high salary. vCISO services circumvent the ancillary costs of compensation for a traditional CISO. Rather than a salary model, a vCISO allows you to pay only for what you need.
Reduced business risk. vCISO services can be very low-risk, as you can choose the optimal service level from a range of offerings. Quickly engaging a vCISO service eliminates the risk incurred when the search for an unfilled senior leadership position takes several months or more—while your organization faces threats every day.

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Digital Beachhead vCISO provides:

Customizable support based on requirements
Strategic Cyber / IT vision to your organization
Risk and compliance reviews (HIPAA, CMMC, etc)
Penetration / Vulnerability Testing
Cyber policies meeting NIST 800-171 standards
Frequent/ongoing Employee Cyber Awareness training
Phishing tests; #1 Threat - Ransomware via Phishing
Scalable / Flexible support when required
Predictable monthly pricing based on services offered

What should an organization do?
The best way to keep pace with the threat is to retain a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). The CISO is a specialist who combines subject matter expertise in the security requirements of different IT systems with comprehensive understanding of the business cases behind each IT design and operational choice. While previous generations of IT management were “generalists” with regards to Cybersecurity among other skill sets, the CISO is an independent executive-level stakeholder driving a robust and pragmatic Information Security program through both executive leadership skills and technical savvy.

However, we understand that the cost of an internal, full-time CISO is prohibitive for many small and medium businesses. Even when cost is not a concern, the talent gap in today’s ultra-competitive Cybersecurity job market means that the right person may not be available.