Virtual Chief Information Security Officer

A Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) is the senior-level executive within an organization responsible for establishing and maintaining the enterprise vision, strategy, and program to ensure information assets and technologies are adequately protected. For organizations who can’t support the need or budget of a full-time CISO, outsourcing to a virtual CISO (vCISO) is a great option that brings both strategic and operational leadership on security.

"Achieving compliance with information security laws, regulations, and standards is imperative for an effective information security program."

To be successful, business owners and executives need to understand how to systematically recognize and address information security risks and take steps to understand and manage these risks through their information security program.  The following are common questions asked by the heads of organization regarding the implementation of an information security program.

• Why invest in information security?
• Where is the focus of attention to accomplish critical information security goals?
• What are the key activities to build an effective information security program?
• What are the information security laws, regulations, standards, and guidance that need to be understood to build an effective security program?
• How does an organization evaluate the effectiveness of an information security program?

Through Appalachia’s vCISO Services, we can help your organization answer these questions. Our approach consists of two phases: An Initial Security Assessment and Ongoing Guidance. The following table identifies key cybersecurity services required to establish and maintain an effective information security program to protect an organization’s information assets from today’s cybersecurity threats, providing answers to the questions above. 

Initial Security Assessment:

Appalachia will establish the maturity of your organization’s information security program based on a proven Cybersecurity Framework such as Center for Internet Security Critical Security Controls (CIS CSC), NIST – CSF, or Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC). These standards will allow organizations of all sizes to create prioritized, achievable goals for Security Program development. 

Each organization’s current security posture and optimal next steps will be determined by performing a security assessment. This assessment will be comprised of:

The above will be summed up in a presentation optimized for all stakeholders’ consumption.  Both the presentation and the report will contain detailed guidance for each organization’s Information Security practice that will help prioritize next steps towards Information Security maturity.          

Ongoing Guidance

After the initial security assessment, the nature of the vCISO engagement will shift to one of ongoing guidance. This guidance will help to propel each organization towards goals established by the security assessment.

Your organization can take advantage of any of the following: