Security leadership without the full-time salary.

Who it’s for

Businesses where nobody owns security decisions. The owner worries about it at night, IT handles tickets, and the big questions sit unanswered. It’s also built for businesses whose insurer, customers, auditors, or investors keep asking “who’s responsible for security?” and need a better answer than silence.

The Why

A full-time CISO costs more than most small businesses spend on their entire IT budget, and most small businesses don’t need one anyway. What they need is someone who can translate technical risk into business decisions, keep the security roadmap moving, and tell leadership what needs attention now versus later.

Without that person, security becomes a pile of disconnected projects. Tools get bought and half-deployed, policies get downloaded and never adopted, and every renewal season turns into a scramble. From my experience, the problem is rarely a missing product, but a missing owner.

What’s included

A named security leader on a monthly cadence. Risks get identified, written down, and ranked by business impact. Decisions get documented so you can prove why choices were made. The roadmap gets managed so projects connect to real risk instead of vendor marketing, and leadership gets reporting written for people who run a business, not a data center.

Tiers and pricing

Monthly retainer. Six-month minimum recommended. All prices are direct and fixed. Cadence: Protect monthly, Defend monthly with more touchpoints, Fortify weekly touchpoints, capped.

Protect: $2,250/mo

• One monthly advisory call focused on decisions, blockers, and top business risks
• Lightweight risk register: risk, business impact, owner, status, and next step
• Security roadmap starter: fix now, next, later, or accepted
• Decision log so leadership can prove why security choices were made
• Priority action list with accountable owners and due dates
• Monthly executive summary written for non-technical leaders

Defend: $4,500/mo, everything in Protect, plus:

• Risk register owned and maintained with status, owner tracking, ratings, and aging
• Security roadmap actively managed so projects connect to business risk, insurance, customer trust, and compliance
• Policy and control guidance: what should exist and how to adopt it
• Vendor, insurance, audit, and customer review risk notes in leadership reporting
• Technical findings translated into budget, staffing, tool, and process decisions
• Leadership-ready reporting usable with owners, boards, MSPs, or auditors

Fortify: $7,500/mo, everything in Defend, plus:

• Weekly executive or security leadership cadence within meeting caps
• Security committee or owner-level governance rhythm with agenda, decisions, actions, and follow-up
• Metrics and risk dashboard: roadmap progress, open risks, exceptions, control health, and evidence readiness
• Board-ready or owner-ready updates with business impact, not technical noise
• Roadmap execution oversight within scope: pushing stalled owners, tracking due dates, escalating unresolved risk
• Quarterly security strategy updates tied to business growth, insurance renewal, vendor risk, and compliance pressure

Not sure which tier fits? That’s what the Fit Call is for. Most businesses land on Defend.

Frequently asked questions

Why six months minimum?

Security leadership is a rhythm, not a project. The first month is spent understanding your business, and the value compounds as the roadmap, risk register, and decision history build. Anything shorter sells you a snapshot when you need a movie.

How is this different from our IT provider?

Your IT provider keeps systems running and sells you hours or tools. A vCISO sits on your side of the table, sets priorities, evaluates what IT proposes, and answers to your leadership. The two roles work best together, and they should not be the same person.

Do we need a vCISO if we’re small?

Size isn’t the trigger, but accountability is. If a customer contract, insurance application, or grant requires someone responsible for security, or you’re making security spending decisions by gut feel, you need this before you need more tools.

Can the vCISO talk to our insurers, auditors, and customers?

Yes. Handling those conversations is a core part of the job, and it’s usually where clients feel the value first. Security questionnaires and renewal calls stop being fire drills.

Scope, stated plainly

• Final scope, timeline, users, systems, domains, vendors, meetings, and deliverables are confirmed before the statement of work is sent.
• Tool licensing, taxes, travel, remediation labor beyond scope, legal review, engineering work, and pass-through vendor costs are excluded unless written into the SOW.
• No service guarantees breach prevention, insurer approval, audit success, premium reduction, or a customer contract win.
• The Focused Risk Review is a diagnostic and roadmap service: no invasive testing, no exploitation, no tool deployment.

Ready to start?

Start with a free fit call. If you want the full picture of where you stand before committing to a retainer, the CyberSecure Focused Risk Review is the natural first step.