Feb 152 min read

What is a virtual security officer?

Updated: May 14

Virtual security officers Gary Hibberd and Lee Scorey

If you’re struggling to stay on top of your security needs, then perhaps you need a virtual security officer. But you may be wondering what is a virtual security officer? And what exactly do they do?

Fractional Security Officers

The world of information security, cyber security, and data protection is becoming increasingly complicated and intertwined. It’s great that we have a lot of specialists in key aspects of these disciplines, but sometimes you need someone whose specialism is being a generalist! That’s what a Fractional Security Officer is.

Virtual Security Officers

When we first started providing ISO27001 consultancy, we knew that many organisations really didn’t need a full time security officer. This is why we developed a service where by we would be there ‘virtually’ for our clients, and support them when they needed us.

That was over 15yrs ago, and not many people understood the benefits of outsourcing their security services to someone like us. But these days, there are ‘Fractional’ Operations Officers, Fractional Finance Directors and ‘Fractional’ Data Protection Officers. These are professionals who provide services at a ‘fraction’ of the time, and you get to pay a ‘fraction’ of the cost.

The handy guide to all ISO27001:2022 Annex A Controls

When you pay for a Virtual Security Officer, what are you paying for?

You’re paying for skills, experience and knowledge.

In brief, you’re getting the best service at a ‘fraction’ of the cost. Because you’re not hiring someone, full time, you don’t have to worry about keeping their skills up to date, and you don’t have to worry about keeping them busy!

So what are the benefits of a virtual security officer?

You pay a smaller amount on a monthly basis
No PAYE to worry about
No 1-2-1s and people management
No training costs
You get extensive experience and knowledge at a fraction of the cost

With Consultants Like Us, there is also an additional benefit in that we are a team of Consultants, and therefore when we can’t answer a question, we can lean on each other for support.

Is having a Virtual Security Officer for you?

If you’re struggling with information security, cyber security, or data protection but don’t have the money to invest in hiring a full time employee, or even a whole team, then a virtual security officer could be for you.

The great thing about this kind of service is that once you grow to a size where you feel you do need to hire someone, you’ll have a better understanding of what they will do.

A virtual security officer or factional security officer injects some life into your security programme and gets you to where you need to be, fast.

If this is a service you’d like to know more about then get in touch, or go read our FAQ page to see the kind of services we provide and the questions we get asked.