Virtual CISO services
Cube Cyber's virtual CISO service gives Australian organisations senior security leadership without the executive headcount, strategy, risk management, board reporting, program oversight and a steady hand in incidents, delivered by practitioners who also design, test and defend environments. It suits organisations large enough to carry real cyber risk but not yet large enough to justify, or find, a full-time CISO.
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The vCISO conversation usually starts with one of these:
The service fits three moments particularly well: growth, when an organisation crosses the threshold where customers, insurers and regulators expect named security leadership; aftermath, when an incident or a near miss has made the leadership gap undeniable and the board wants an owner; and transition, holding the function between full-time CISOs, or building the foundations so a future full-time hire inherits a working program rather than a blank page. It also suits boards that want independent security counsel alongside an internal team.
Core capabilities & deliverables
Security strategy and roadmap
A pragmatic, costed security strategy tied to your risk profile and obligations, revisited as the business changes, direction the whole organisation can plan against, not a document for the shelf.
Risk management and acceptance
A working risk process: assessment, treatment decisions with named owners, and the discipline of explicit acceptance, so the organisation knows which risks it is running on purpose and which by accident.
Board and executive reporting
Reporting that gives directors what they need for governance duties, posture, exposure, program progress and incidents, in risk language, at a cadence that builds confidence. Your vCISO attends board and committee meetings as required.
Program and vendor oversight
Oversight of the security program and the providers delivering it, including us, priorities held, spend challenged, and vendor claims tested by someone who knows what good delivery looks like from the inside.
Compliance and certification leadership
Ownership of obligations, ISO 27001, Essential Eight positions, APRA expectations, SOCI, and leadership of certification programs, drawing on our GRC practice for the build while the vCISO owns the outcome.
Incident leadership
When something happens, your vCISO leads the response at the management level, decisions, communications, regulatory notifications, connected to our incident response practice, and already holding your context, which is precisely when leadership matters most.
vCISO engagements follow a deliberate arc rather than a meter:
Baseline
A rapid assessment of posture, obligations, risks and in-flight work, so leadership starts from facts, typically within the first month.
Direct
Strategy, roadmap and risk decisions established with executives and the board, priorities set and owned.
Operate
The ongoing rhythm: risk reviews, program oversight, board reporting, vendor management and availability when questions or incidents arise.
Mature or transition
Either the function matures in place, or we build toward a full-time hire, and hand over a working program, whichever serves the organisation.
The role operates across the frameworks your obligations reference, ISO 27001 and ISO 42001, the ASD Essential Eight and ISM, NIST CSF, APRA expectations and SOCI, and is delivered by senior practitioners holding certifications including CISSP, CISM and ISO 27001 Lead Auditor, backed by the full depth of Cube Cyber's architecture, testing, managed security and incident response practices.
ISO 27001ISO 42001
APRANIST CSFFrequently asked questions
Everything a CISO does, scaled to your size: sets strategy, owns the risk process, reports to the board, oversees the security program and vendors, leads obligations and certifications, and takes management-level command in incidents. The difference is fractional engagement, you get executive-grade leadership for the days per month your organisation actually needs.
Typically a set number of days per month, established at baseline and adjusted as the program matures, more during strategy-setting or an incident, less in steady state. The arrangement is deliberately elastic, because security leadership demand is not flat, and the retainer includes availability when something goes wrong.
Accountability and continuity. A consultant delivers an engagement and leaves; a vCISO owns outcomes over time, carries your context between decisions, fronts your board, and is the named security leader your customers, insurers and regulators can point to. Advice is part of it; ownership is the point.
Yes, that is the operating model. The vCISO gives your internal team senior direction and air cover, and holds external providers, including Cube Cyber's own services where engaged, to account. Where the vCISO oversees our delivery practices, the reporting line to your executive keeps that oversight honest.
Both regimes expect demonstrable security governance and accountability, and a well-run vCISO arrangement can satisfy that expectation, with the role formally recognised in your governance structure. We are direct about scale: past a certain size and obligation weight, the right answer becomes a full-time CISO, and we will tell you when you reach it, and help you hire and hand over.
Yes, and it is a natural end-state for growing organisations. The vCISO builds the strategy, program and reporting rhythm, helps define the role, supports the hiring process, and hands over a functioning security function, a materially better inheritance than an empty seat and a folder of old reports.
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