It's no secret that the threat landscape has changed dramatically over the past few years, and continues to evolve by the moment. Consequently, your internal IT department may no longer be well-equipped to deal with threats — at least not without updated training and/or advisory assistance. And without a resource in place for planning, risk mitigation and incident response, you're risking more than you know.

But if you don't have room in your budget for employing a dedicated security risk manager or Chief Information Security Officer, what options for risk mitigation do you really have? Outsourcing a CISO, or virtual CISO (vCISO) might be your best bet.

The Benefits of a Virtual CISO

Hiring a virtual CISO might at first seem like a risk in and of itself. Will they be able to get to know your business well enough to perform? Will it be a waste of money? Though these questions are legitimate, it's important to bear in mind the potential benefits in order to properly respond and settle your own objections:

Less Cost

A virtual, part-time CISO will certainly cost less than hiring a full-time employee. But is having a CISO of any sort cost effective?

No matter how you look at things, hiring someone will increase your expenses. But given the dramatic changes to the threat landscape and the chameleon-like efforts of today's attackers, you need to consider how to best approach information security management, anyhow, and that doesn't always mean you'll be able to establish concrete ROI.

Instead, consider the cost of a security breach, and what it would take to recover from one. That will help you treat info-sec management like flood insurance. There won't always be a flood — but you still need to be able to deal with it if there is one.

Hiring a virtual CISO, then, is an opportune way to minimize both risk and immediate expense, while giving everyone peace of mind.

More Experience

Quite often, a virtual CISO is an individual who works or has worked in multiple environments. Therefore, they'll have a larger area from which to pull security expertise. For instance, you might hire someone who has worked (or is working) with law firms, university labs, metal manufacturers and nuclear power plants, meaning they can use all of the knowledge they've gained about threats, privacy and risk from each industry to develop a greater and clearer picture of the solutions your own industry or organization requires.

Less Collusion

One of the more often overlooked benefits of a virtual CISO is their relationship with your organization. Because your CISO won't work full time on premise, they will have less of an opportunity to develop relationships that could result in collusion. Your virtual CISO won't report to the person directly responsible for day-to-day IT needs and management, nor will they have any motivation to play office politics.

Instead of wondering whether or not it's OK to suspect a fellow employee of posing an insider threat, a virtual CISO will be able to act with the sole motivation to keep your organization more secure. And that's important; according to Intel, internal actors were responsible for 43 percent of data loss (half intentional, half accidental) among companies experiencing breaches. It makes sense, in this case, to trust an outsider as your expert.

Nail the Timing

You now know a virtual CISO can be a beneficial addition to your organization's security efforts. But how will you know when it's the right time to make that addition?

Consider whether you have clear insight into your risks and needs. If you don't, and you don't have the materials or tools you need to protect your assets, it may be time to begin your search. If you feel the future of your company's security is dependent on more than what you currently have available, and are curious about what exactly you don't know, begin vetting potential candidates.

Look at Credentials

Whenever you hire or contract, you need to consider your current and future needs and how your applicants can meet them. When it comes to selecting a virtual CISO, you certainly want to see evidence of credentials and experience, but making note of some less concrete qualities can also be valuable.

Your virtual CISO should be able to work well in an environment where there may be confrontational items to address. They'll need to be able to articulate reasons for change implementation. And of course, they'll want to remain diplomatic in their approach to gaining buy-in from others in the organization.

Worth Doing Well

Anything worth doing is worth doing well. Security is no exception. If you don't have quite the right resources to get a full-time CISO in the door, that's OK. A virtual CISO can offer some interesting benefits which an in-house employee may not, and is certainly a better bet than simply waiting for attacks to make your potential risks into realities.