Four Drivers Making Virtual CISO Engagements More Popular than Ever in 2025

Today’s cybersecurity landscape is morphing faster than ever, with new cyber threats and security tools evolving constantly. As organizations struggle to keep pace, the demand for strategic cybersecurity expertise—including the virtual chief information security officer (vCISO or fractional CISO) role—has never been greater.

vCISO engagements are especially popular with SMBs, many of which face looming cybersecurity and privacy compliance pressures that demand expert guidance but lack the resources for a full-time CISO. This short article shares four reasons why vCISO services will be more prevalent than ever in 2025.

Why is the vCISO role so popular with SMBs?

The central cybersecurity challenges for many SMBs are:

• Correctly understanding their unique and cyber risk profile,
• Identifying the best treatment approaches (e.g., technical controls, cyber liability insurance) for those risks, and
• Finding budget and staffing resources to implement and operate those risk treatments.

The vCISO role is tailor-made to tackle these ubiquitous challenges to create a strategically effective cybersecurity program. Besides giving SMBs cost-effective access to scarce expertise, vCISO services may also include the on-demand assistance of a virtual security team under the vCISO’s direction.

Leveraging these outsourced skills, SMBs can align their service consumption with evolving requirements while more quickly and effectively addressing cybersecurity and compliance risks. Tapping vCISO services is also an excellent way to take the stress of cybersecurity concerns off an overwhelmed CIO/CTO who faces competing priorities and may not be a security expert.

The sections that follow describe each of the four top reasons why vCISO engagements will be more popular than ever in 2025.

One: Ongoing hiring challenges with senior cybersecurity execs

Perennial challenges with finding and retaining senior cybersecurity talent continue to make it difficult, time-consuming and expensive to find a full-time CISO—especially for SMBs. Plus, many SMBs don’t need a full-time CISO in the first place.

A vCISO may also be a better fit for many SMBs because they have often worked in a range of verticals and already have key industry experience to help them ramp up quickly. 

Two: A need for strategic cybersecurity guidance

Many SMBs lack the strategic guidance they need to build out effective and compliant cybersecurity and privacy programs that position their companies for success in the near-term and longer-term. Short on direct experience, SMB leaders increasingly seek outside help to address looming cyber risks, deal with overlapping regulatory requirements, and meet stakeholder expectations

Providing this strategic support in alignment with business goals is what the vCISO role is all about. The core of a vCISO engagement to establish and fine-tune a strategy to manage the client’s unique cybersecurity risks in alignment with business goals and contractual and regulatory obligations. 

Three: Increasing pressure to appoint a cybersecurity leader

Especially in financial services and other regulated verticals, companies may face significant stakeholder pressure to create a CISO-type role to address cybersecurity due diligence concerns. Notably:

• There is a growing number of state-level laws patterned after the Insurance Data Security Model Law (NIAC Model 668), which directs insurers nationally to appoint a CISO/vCISO. 
• New York’s 23 NYCRR 500 law, a set of cybersecurity requirements impacting many financial institutions in the state, mandates naming a CISO/vCISO. Massachusetts law 201 CMR 17 likewise effectively requires any firm that stores data on its citizens to designate a CISO/vCISO.
• Industry-specific regulations like HIPAA in healthcare and FINRA in financial services mandate cybersecurity requirements that incentivize creating a CISO/vCISO position.
• While there is no US federal law requiring companies to appoint a CISO/vCISO, the SEC’s recent cybersecurity disclosure rules put significant new responsibilities on public companies to manage and report cybersecurity events while governing cybersecurity more strategically.

Four: The rapid growth in vCISO service offerings among MSPs and MSSPs

The latest State of the vCISO Survey Report highlights the fast-growing demand for vCISO services among managed service provider (MSP) and managed security service provider (MSSP) customers. These predominantly SMB/SME firms increasingly recognize their need for strategic direction in addition to cybersecurity products and operational support. 

Statistics from the report illustrate how fast this trend is gaining steam:

• 86% of MSPs/MSSPs either currently offer vCISO services or reported plans to do so by the end of 2024.
• Of the remaining 14% of MSPs/MSSPs not offering vCISO services by the start of 2025, 13% plan to introduce them in the future.
• That leaves just 1% of MSP/MSSP orgs that have no plans to offer vCISO services.

These numbers underscore the intensifying SMB/SME demand for an external partner that can provide holistic support for their cybersecurity program to enable business growth, including strategy, solutions, and results. Meanwhile, MSPs/MSSPs are keen to grow their customer bases, expand their service offerings to current customers, and increase their revenues and profits. 

What’s next?

For more guidance on this topic, listen to Episode 147 of The Virtual CISO Podcast with guest Matt Webster, Partner at Harbor Technology Group.