“Fill out these questionnaires, get a SOC 2, protect our data!” SaaS companies have a tremendous cybersecurity burden placed upon them.
Fractional CISO is specially equipped to meet SaaS companies’ specific cybersecurity needs. Leave cybersecurity and compliance to us – you focus on building your product and growing your business.
A SaaS Virtual CISO often acts as the top-level cybersecurity leader at their client company. They build a cybersecurity strategy aligned with the company’s needs and put it into practice – mitigating their risk and helping them to meet compliance goals. (Which are often contractually required!)
Virtual CISO firms like Fractional CISO can also provide security manpower and guidance to SaaS companies who already have an internal security leader but want additional help.
As the Chief Information Security Officer, the most important role of a SaaS vCISO is to build their client’s cybersecurity program!
Often, a SaaS company has at least some cybersecurity controls in place when they bring in a cybersecurity leader such as Fractional CISO. So, the vCISOs very first job is to evaluate the company’s operations to build a comprehensive understanding of the SaaS company’s:
With that information in hand, the vCISO can set about building a cybersecurity program that will fit the SaaS company’s specific tech stack and business goals. The cybersecurity program for an organization that is entirely cloud-based and is going for SOC 2 should look very different from an organization that has on-premises infrastructure and isn’t going for any specific compliance framework.
SaaS companies often face significant compliance requirements from their customers, especially as the company grows and begins to attract large, security-conscious prospects.
Most large companies take cybersecurity very seriously these days, and will flatly refuse to do business with vendors who don’t meet a minimum standard. The burden of proof falls to the SaaS company to prove their security program is capable – first through burdensome cybersecurity questionnaires, then through a compliance requirement such as SOC 2 compliance or ISO 27001.
Often, contracts are closed with the express written requirement that the SaaS company will become compliant by a certain deadline.
If the SaaS company doesn’t have the internal capabilities to achieve that compliance goal, they often turn to a SaaS-specialized vCISO to lead the charge.
The SaaS Virtual CISO will improve the cybersecurity program until it is compliant with the required framework, then lead them start-to-finish through the audit process. By acquiring vCISO services, a SaaS company can save their CEO, CTO, or other high-level leaders dozens of hours per week on cybersecurity-related tasks.
Cybersecurity isn’t just about compliance. Cybersecurity attacks can and do cost their victims hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars.
SaaS companies are particularly vulnerable to cybersecurity attacks because their product is a live, online service. An incident that results in important customer data being stolen, or service downtime, can decimate customer faith in the product; some companies do switch vendors after one suffers a cyber attack.
Cybersecurity can be a unique selling point for SaaS companies. Given two equal vendor options, most B2B customers will pick the one they trust more; cybersecurity builds trust.
Many Virtual CISOs are even happy to talk directly with prospective customers to explain the SaaS company’s cybersecurity program, providing additional assurance. Putting a cybersecurity leader in at your organization is one small piece that proves you take security seriously!
SaaS companies will gain many benefits from hiring a Virtual CISO. A SaaS vCISO will reduce the cybersecurity risk the organization faces, help them meet compliance goals, and do it more efficiently than existing, non-cybersecurity staff can.
When a SaaS company is first required to do cybersecurity tasks, they often fall into the laps of the highest-ranking technical positions, such as the CTO or IT director.
While a CTO or IT Director can do many of these cybersecurity tasks, it is not an efficient use of their time! Unless they’ve done them before, they will be unfamiliar with the specifics, greatly increasing the time needed to complete the task. Working on cybersecurity in general takes a lot of the time that those high-level employees could be contributing to their core duties!
A vCISO improves the situation in two ways. First, they simply take most or all of the cybersecurity tasks off of other leaders’ plates. Second, as cyber experts, SaaS vCISOs can complete tasks much faster than other individuals.
Of course, another benefit that vCISOs provide to SaaS companies is cybersecurity risk assessment, management, and reduction! As discussed, SaaS companies face considerable cybersecurity risk. Even “small” or “minor” cyber attacks can result in $100,000s of dollars in damages.
A good security leader with a vision of how to best protect the organization will significantly reduce the risk that the client organization is struck in a given year.
SaaS companies face a number of unique cybersecurity challenges. Some of the common challenges Fractional CISO has seen among our clients include:
SaaS companies commonly face pressure from both prospective and current customers: “How’s your cybersecurity? Do you have a SOC 2? No? Fill out this questionnaire!”
Few growing organizations dedicate significant resources to formalized cybersecurity and compliance until they start getting these questions – so the SaaS company suddenly finds itself with a need for cybersecurity expertise and without an internal resource.
Cybersecurity tasks at midsize organizations can usually be delegated to a cross-functional internal team with some technical, administrative, and director-level employees. However, this comes with a drawback! These security tasks take a lot of time from high-value individuals.
Virtual CISOs are a well-suited solution for this challenge, as they bring the cybersecurity knowledge and skills needed to help the SaaS company succeed while being less costly than a full-time CISO. It’s a more flexible, cost-effective solution.
A typical SaaS engagement with Fractional CISO consists of the following:
Fractional CISO can help SaaS companies meet any necessary compliance goals, with particular specializations in SOC 2, TX-RAMP, ISO 27001, and PCI-DSS with a thorough cybersecurity compliance audit. This includes:
With so many security questionnaires coming from our enterprise partners, we knew it was time to focus on cybersecurity. Fractional CISO helped with sales enablement while building out a security management team for us from scratch. Then, they developed our program, helped us with documentation and critical issue remediation and ultimately led us to SOC 2 compliance!
Fractional CISO was a valuable partner while we built our cybersecurity program and ultimately our SOC 2 compliance. They work proactively to help us manage our risk and make continual improvements to our cybersecurity program. This makes it easier to build trust with our Higher Education customers, and we can put more focus on service delivery for them!
Fractional CISO has been instrumental in transforming our cybersecurity program. The cybersecurity team they’ve provided us has seamlessly integrated with our organization, allowing our product team to focus on innovation. We highly recommend their services.
Fractional CISO came in and helped us build a cybersecurity program from the ground up. They developed a security management framework for us based on CIS Controls, adapted specifically to our use. Our regular meetings with our vCISO keep us informed of new risks, and push us to constantly improve. I feel much more confident in my company’s cybersecurity with them in our organization!
Fractional CISO actually reduced the cost of our cybersecurity operations while managing our risk! They determined which tools and practices were not effective and eliminated them from our budget. We replaced the tools with new, less expensive options that better fit our company’s needs and capabilities.
I’ve been impressed at how Fractional CISO has systematically tackled our complex, multi-product environment. Their evaluations and recommendations have given me a complete understanding of each products’ cybersecurity posture. As the guy who is on the hook for keeping all of our corporate and customer data secure, the piece of mind that Fractional CISO brings me is invaluable!
I had previously worked with Fractional CISO, so I knew they were the right partner to help us elevate our cybersecurity efforts. Their expertise has been instrumental in validating that our global team adheres to critical policies and procedures, ensuring we maintain a strong, mature security posture. Their commitment and depth of knowledge have made a tangible difference in the effectiveness of our security program.
Our cybersecurity program has gotten off to a terrific start with the help from Fractional CISO. They’ve created and customized policies, helped us find and evaluate key vendors and assisted us in reducing risk, all in the first few months of our engagement!
We now have a SOC 2 program in place! Fractional CISO got us from start to a SOC 2 Type 1 Attestation Report in just a few months. They helped us put the controls in place, helped us make process changes and are now helping us maintain the program.
Fractional CISO helped us get a handle on our cybersecurity program. We now have a stronger compliance program for both ISO 27001 and GDPR and are able to better manage our cybersecurity risk.
Fractional CISO provides Virtual CISO services to businesses across various industries. Here are some of our key industries:
FinTech • Private Equity • Banking • Lending • Wealth Management • Venture Capital • Mergers & Acquisitions • Healthcare • Manufacturing • Legal Services •Retail • eCommerce
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Only 1/3 of cyber insurance policies actually pay out in incidents. Most companies have cyber insurance policies that insure too little, or too much, and have absurdly low caps and silly exclusions.
To learn more about cyber insurance and determine if you have the right coverage for you, join us for a free vCISO Office Hours session on Tuesday, April 18 at 1 p.m. eastern time. Bring your questions!
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