Virtual CISO
CISO as a service: experienced leadership for your security
A CISO leads your information security programme. Your dedicated lead sets priorities, advises management and coordinates the agreed work, supported by the wider Guardera team. You get senior expertise for the time your business needs.
Who this service is for
When your security needs dedicated leadership
- Your board wants one person responsible for security.
- A regulator, customer or auditor expects a named security lead.
- Your IT and compliance teams need senior advice before they act.
- Security work spans several teams or partners and needs someone to coordinate it.
- You need a senior security lead for part of the month, not a full-time hire.
What the work achieves
Direction, ownership and follow-through
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An accountable lead with specialist support
Your dedicated lead coordinates security across your teams and IT suppliers, with support from the wider Guardera team and clear responsibilities for management decisions.
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Work that follows a plan
Your lead turns risks and legal duties into a plan with priorities, owners and a budget. Management approves the plan; your lead tracks delivery and raises blockers early.
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Management can make informed security decisions
Management understands the main risks, progress and investment needs. Your CISO explains the options and recommends where to focus next.
What we cover
The work your security lead runs
Security leadership and responsibilities
We agree the CISO’s responsibilities, decisions that need management approval and how we work with your internal IT team or external IT partners.
Policies and procedures
We write or update your security policies and procedures and check that people follow them in daily work.
Risks and safeguards
We list your security risks, agree how to handle each one and check that your safeguards work, with technical tests where needed.
Rules and audits ahead
We track the laws, standards and customer requests that apply to you, such as NIS2, DORA or ISO 27001. We prepare you for audits and follow up their findings.
Incidents and continuity
We agree who responds when something goes wrong, test your response and recovery plans with your team, and help you report incidents to regulators.
Supplier reviews
We find out which suppliers you depend on most, check their security and contract terms, and follow up the gaps.
Staff awareness
We train your staff to spot and report threats such as phishing emails, and keep a record of who has completed the training.
Board and management updates
We report risks, decisions and progress in words your leadership team can use, and bring them the decisions only they can take.
How it works
How we take on the role
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01
Review your starting point
We go through the rules you must meet, open issues, current risks and how much time your team has.
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02
Agree priorities and monthly hours
We propose the work, the responsibilities, the review meetings and the hours each month that the work needs.
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03
Lead the security work
Your security lead guides your teams and suppliers, records decisions and reports to management at the agreed meetings.
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Adjust as things change
We revisit risks and safeguards when your business, systems or legal duties change, and adjust the hours with you.
What we need from your team
- A board member or manager who takes the security decisions with us.
- Contacts in IT, compliance and other teams who own security tasks.
- Access to your policies, audit results and supplier contracts.
- Time in your regular management meetings for security updates.
CISO-as-a-Service
A monthly package of agreed hours
You pay a fixed monthly amount for an agreed number of hours. We propose the hours after reviewing where you stand, and adjust them as the work changes.
We agree the work and price with you in writing before we start.
Common questions
Common questions
Related services
Free 30-minute call
Give your security a clear direction
In a free 30-minute call, we review your priorities and recommend the leadership support and monthly hours your business needs.
