What are the benefits of using Fractional Director services – Focus on CISO
by Peter Storer
A Chief Information Security Officer (or CISO) is fast becoming a key role in many businesses especially as the amount of data they hold is exponentially growing. The CISO role is put in place to ensure that information security embedded all the way through the systems, policies and procedures. The purpose of the role is to guard all the information and high value data which is critical to any business’ performance and success.
All businesses hold data, where the majority is both valuable and critical to their performance, however, a full understanding of their data estate is rare, especially as the rate of data growth is considerable. If data growth is poorly maintained, it can lead to the business becoming vulnerable and inefficient. Not knowing where your data is and why youkeep it should be at the top of every business agenda at the most senior level.
This is where the CISO role can provide invaluable insights and experience to bridge that gap. Some of the areas that a Fractional CISO helps businesses are:
- Clarifying what and where data is held – This ensures that any data needed is securely stored and put the appropriate measures in place to prevent the risk of a
costly data breach. - Simplifying access to your data – Putting simply access controls in place so that data is only available to those who need it.
- Removing and archiving unnecessary data – You have heard of the saying “Seeing the wood for the trees’ meaning that they can declutter and clarify which data is key and remove or archive any that isn’t adding value. This can save time and storage costs!
- Introduction of key retention and archival policies – once the data estate is known they can build appropriate retention policies to ensure data isn’t held any longer than it needs to be and that it complies with any specific regulations such as GDPR etc.
The CISO role plays a key role in helping business obtain their Cyber Essentials or ISO27001 accreditation. For SME businesses having a full time CISO role isn’t really viable so utilising a Fractional CISO will compliment your existing board team but on an ‘on demand’ basis. This means you get the experience and knowledge of a C-level resource as and when you need it.
A Fractional CISO will come into your business and quickly put together a full risk assessment and an appropriate plan of action that aligns with your unique strategy which they will then go ahead and deliver for an agreed amount of time per month. This takes away the burden of the senior team having to do this themselves. The Fractional CISO is just one service that The Fractional Group can offer SME businesses. The Fractional Group offers a unique proposition that provides for a wealth of executive talent across every functional area of your business ready to work on specific challenges or in collaboration on more complex engagements. As well as Information Security we have experts in Information Technology, Operations, Finance, HR, Legal, & Marketing.
So, whatever your circumstances we can help. Our fees are transparent and there are no binding contracts. Use us as and when you need us.
